Imagine you are a middle-class Ravennati artisan on your way to the market. In the open air of Ravenna, under a blue sky and wispy clouds, a Commedia dell'Arte troupe plays for the crowded street. You push through the crowd as it hisses and boos—doubtless some evil plan has just been hatched.

On stage, the gluttonous Dottore has just rambled himself to sleep, and Arlecchino, dressed in rags and shoe-less, does cartwheels while he waits. Suddenly Isabella dashes onto the stage in tears; close behind comes Flavio to apologize. They hide behind Dottore as Pantalone, Flavio's father, enters.

Pantalone can hardly understand the babbling of his servant Pedrolino, who has the accent of a Neapolitan farmer. Still, Pedrolino's apish gesticulations and frothing chops tell the story of a plan gone awry. Meanwhile Arlecchino has begun to sing candidly about Brighella's role in the mayhem, but everyone is too wrapped up in their immediate problems to pay him heed.