Note 400 — Chapter V
Reading edition
In the prologues of the later comedies of learning (commedia erudita) allusions to the rude style of Fiesolan shows are pretty frequent. The playwrights speak of them as our Elizabethan dramatists spoke of Bartholomew Fair. The whole method of a Fiesolan Sacra Rappresentazione is well explained in the induction to the play of Abraam e Sara (Siena, 1581). A father and his son set out from Florence, at the boy's request:
Et vo che noi andiamo a Fiesolani poggi, Ch'io mi ricordo c'hoggi una festa non più vista Mai più el Vangelista vi fa e rappresenta.
On the road they wonder, will the booth be too full for them to find places, will they get hot by walking fast up hill, will their clothes be decent? They meet the Festajuolo at the booth-door, distracted because:
manca una voce Et è ito un veloce a Firenze per lui.
Voce was the technical name for the actor.