I need a plot summary of the Italian grotesque style play, "La
maschera e il volto," by Luigi Chiarelli. Thank you.

Dear robbiesnakenberg,

I have found this synopsis of Chiarelli's 'La maschera e il volto',
also known as 'The Mask and the Face' in English-speaking countries.
The summary refers to the original New York performance of the English
version, translated and adapted by Baily Fernald, in 1924:

"Having sworn that he would kill any wife who deceived him, the Count
Grazia is forced to make good when he discovers the Countess
entertaining a gentleman friend in her rooms. The Count attempts to
strangle the Countess, but thinks better of it and sends her away. He
tells his friends, however, that he has killed her and thrown her body
in the lake. Which leads to a comic funeral and the wife's return,
veiled, to watch herself buried. After which she proves her innocence
and wins back the Count."

Source:
'The Best Plays of 1924-1925' by Burns Mantle, quoted on the website
'The Earl of Hollywood - Life and Career of Robert Montgomery', by
R.E. Lee, 2001.
http://www.geocities.com/luckygagin2/MaskAndTheFace.html

Search terms used:
"maschera e il volto" Chiarelli:
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22maschera+e+il+volto%22+Chiarelli&meta=
"the mask and the face" chiarelli:
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22the+mask+and+the+face%22+chiarelli&meta=

I hope this is what you had in mind.
Regards,
Scriptor

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Request for Answer Clarification by robbiesnakenberg-ga on 21 Jul 2002 06:24 PDT

Dear Scriptor,
   Thank you for answering my question. However, I need a bit more
detail regarding the plot- especially in the 2nd and 3rd acts. The
more detailed, the better. Thank you again.

---

Clarification of Answer by scriptor-ga on 21 Jul 2002 10:20 PDT

Dear robbiesnakenberg,

After your Request for Clarification, I have searched extensively for
additional sources providing a more detailed English summary of 'La
maschera e il volto'. Alas, I did not find anything helpful. Most
websites referring to this play are available in Italian only, and
among these I did, to my surprise, not find many details about the
plot.
However, I located at least this synopsis, which is a bit longer than
the one you already have. The original text is in Italian, and I did
my very best to translate it correctly. Sadly, the contents of the
seperate acts are not clearly marked. But I really hope this summary
fits better with your needs, since I simply did not find anything more
satisfying, even after three hours of searching:

Paolo Grazia, who has declared before all his friends that he will
kill his wife Savina in case she betrayed him, tries to do so when
this really happens. But he is unable to do it and instead sends her
to a foreign country and declares he had murdered her and sunk her
corpse in the Lake Como. Because this appears to be a crime he
commited to defend his honor and because of the skillful harangue of
his barrister - who was in fact his wife's lover, but Paolo does not
know that -, he is acquitted. All would be in order, if his wife
Savina did not appear on the day her funeral is celebrated. A corpse
found in the Lake Como has in fact by all others recognized as hers.
She regrets that she betrayed her husband and has understood that
can't live without Paolo. Her husband, unable to resist her
fascination, is newly attracted by her, but Savina's presence is
discovered. The scandal bursts and Paul becomes accused of crime
simulation, is in real danger to end in prison. At this point, his
reaction is total astonishment: 'How is that possible? I have killed
and they acquit me. I have not killed and they send me to jail.'

Source:
Godotnews.it - 'La Maschera E Il Volto' della Commedia Italiana, by
Lando Buzzanca, 2001 (in Italian)
http://www.godotnews.it/segnalazioni_old/segn_b_03_02_2001.htm

Search terms used:
"la maschera e il volto":
://www.google.com/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22la+maschera+e+il+volto%22&btnG=Google-Suche&lr=

I hope I was able to help you
Regards,
Scriptor