MR: Pulcinella

["Ed Hopkins" <Ed.Hopkins@MCI.Com>]

Poster: "Ed Hopkins" <Ed.Hopkins@MCI.Com>

My wife and I just had lunch at a ristorante called Pulcinella.
All over the walls there were varias paintings and statuettes of
a man in baggy white clothes with a black mask over his eyes. The
menu explained that the man depicted was Pulcinella, a Napolitan
who worked in a pizzeria but didn't take his job too seriously.
This reminded me of the excellent Commedia del' Arte troupe in
the Dominion of Myrkfaelinn, within AEthelmearc. In that troupe's
plays, the hero was a man named Gonella.

* Why do these *men's* names end with an 'a' instead of an 'o'?

* With my admittedly limited knowledge of Italian, meseems
  "Pulcinella" means something like "Little Thumb".  Is this
  correct?

* * Could it have something to do with him being so small
    (when he's represented as a finger puppet)?

* Are there any Commedia del' Arte troupes in Atlantia?

* Are there any Punch-and-Judy troupes in Atlantia?

-- Alfredo el Bufon

=======================================================================
List Archives, FAQ, FTP:  http://sca.wayfarer.org/merryrose/
            Submissions:  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org
        Admin. requests:  majordomo@atlantia.sca.org