Typewriting
33 pages
Fasolino che muore e rinasce da uovo
The play is known to us thanks to a typewritten copy made in 1983 by Rinaldo Striuli. It is kept in the Fonds Nino Pozzo in Verona.
The structure of the play is complex. It features several classical elements from puppet plays, such as magical appearances and a descent into the Underworld. Fasolino’s second birth – when he comes out of an eggshell – takes up a classical motif linked to Pulcinella in the Neapolitan tradition. However, Campogalliani speaks of an “uovo di coccodrillo” (a crocodile’s egg) here, and he makes another reptile, a snake, brood on it.
A murdered lover comes back to life, avenges himself and marries the woman he loves
Pantalone wants his daughter Rosaura to marry the Comte Rompipignatte, but she refuses. Pantalone asks for Brighella’s help. The latter suspects that Rosaura has a lover. This lover is Fasolino. Brighella lures him into a trap so that Pantalone can kill him. Rosaura learns about the murder and is shut away. After he receives his reward, Brighella carries Fasolino’s corpse out of town.
A magician (Mago) summons Pluto and Proserpina in order to bring Fasolino back to life. The Devil carries his corpse into the Underworld. Fasolino’s corpse is burnt, and his ashes are placed inside a crocodile’s egg which is then left on a beach. The egg is warmed by Apollo’s sun and brooded on by a snake. Fasolino is born again and fed with the miraculous milk of an old woman. In barely ten minutes, he becomes adult again. The magician reveals what has happened to him and endows him with magical powers.
Brighella relates it all to Pantalone, who does not believe him. Fasolino appears first as a French Knight, then as a Spanish Knight. Thanks to the Shadows he summoned, he beats the two accomplices with a stick.
Pantalone and Brighella are overcome with fear and call Sandrone for help. But Sandrone is even more terrified than they are. Pantalone begs Rosaura to marry the Comte Rompipignatte so his torment can end. She finally yields and agrees. At the exact moment when she is about to exchange vows with the Comte, Fasolino uses his magical powers to kill Pantalone and the Comte. Then he asks Rosaura to marry him. She refuses because he has just killed her father. Fasolino brings Pantalone and the Comte back to life. The latter flees. Fasolino and Rosaura can finally get married.