PENELOPE
"I wont forget that wife of Scarli in a hurry supposed to be a fast play about adultery that idiot in the gallery hissing the woman" (U18.1116)
The NY Times (April 6, 1897) writes that The Wife of Scarli is 'a somber domestic drama, in 3 acts, from the Italian of Giuseppe Giacosa by G.A. Greene.' Scali is a humble hard working advocate whose wife has an affair with his colleague Fabrizio. The reviewer finds that the play is simple, modern, and overall 'a faithful and graphic portrayal of domestic life'. However the last act, the reconciliation of the couple through the innocent mediation of their child, is 'mawkish, trite', and 'so preposterous that the jeers of the multitude are justified'. The play had Olga Nethersole in the title role.
