In the evenings, amusement and instruction were sought in the people's theatres, where the Tuscan equivalent for Policinello and Arlequino, i.e. Stenterello, appeared (in his tricorne hat and curly pigtail) in every play, to fire off local allusions and jests in Florentine dialect–period or plot being of no consequence whatever. There was no attempt at illusion. Footmen wandered off and on at odd moments to move furniture; the audible and visible prompter conversed with the members of the orchestra; the double-bass player's bowler hung on the scroll of his instrument, and everybody smoked black cigars excepting the actors. << less