Ligurian:
# Oliviero Olivari (1882–1975)

O l’ea nasciuo in provinsa de Mantua e o l’ea stramuou do 1908 à Zena, dond’o l’é stæto pe ciù de quarant’anni impiegou do Commun à l’Offiçio anagrafe. Fin da zoeno o scriveiva pe-i giornali e ciù tardi o l’à descoverto a seu pascion pe-o tiatro; za à partî da-o 1920 con Feua de colisse, pe-a compagnia da Rosetta Mazzi, dapeu con Ægua ciæa a n’ammaccia, do 1923, pe-o Riccardo Pittaluga, e O vexin (1927) pe-o Gilberto Govi, fin a-i atti unichi de mez’oa ognidun, stæti trasmissi da-a RAI into doppoguæra, comme O fæto de çioule (1956) e Pittaluga e Sciaccaluga (1966), o nomme do Olivari o l’é ligou pròpio à st’andio d’arrecampâse tutta a famiggia d’in gio à l’aradio tutte e domeneghe à d’oe dòppo disnâ, pe «sentî parlâ zeneise» a-o manco unna gramma vòtta, andio ch’o l’è duou scin a-o 1970, quande a RAI a l’à soppresso a trasmiscion, pe varie raxoin; tra i atri nommi de quelli anni, che ne tegnivan attaccæ à l’appægio radiofònico inti giorni de festa, beseugna mensunâ ascì V. E. Petrucci, C. P. Pessin, E. Balbi, L. Anselmi, G. Marzari, P. Guidoni. Pe dâ a-o seu scrito unn’intonaçion ciù viaxa e sccetta o Olivari o travaggiava in cobbia co-o seu amigo Eugenio Monchiero, e beseugna dî che a qualitæ do zeneise che deuviavan a l’é degna de nòtta (à parte e sòlite inçertesse de grafia). I intressi de comedie do Olivari en senci comme tutto e de belle vòtte i personaggi descazzan inta maccetta, ma no se peu denegâ che un çerto savô de Zena de unna vòtta o n’arreste inte l’äia e inta memöia à lezile e à sentîle torna.

Doî caccioei contamicce passan a neutte inte un paise de l’entrotæra, donde tutti gh’an a pascion da lirica; pe scroccâghe unna çeña dan da intende che son doî cantanti d’òpera, ma à sta mainea s’attreuvan constreiti à promettighe un conçerto pe-a seia apreuvo, tanto che a-a dreitua addescian e speranse, no solo artistiche, de unna cantante mancâ, a moggê do speçiâ da dròghe, no san comme fâ à sciortîne con elegansa. O saià o caxo ch’o ghe daià unna man.

English translation:
# Oliviero Olivari (1882–1975)

Olivari was born in the province of Mantua and moved to Genoa in 1908, where he was a municipal clerk in the registry office for more than forty years. From a young age he wrote for newspapers; he later discovered his passion for theater as early as 1920 with Feua de colisse for Rosetta Mazzi’s company, then with Ægua ciæa a n’ammaccia in 1923 for Riccardo Pittaluga, and O vexin (1927) for Gilberto Govi, up to the one-act plays of half an hour each, broadcast by RAI after the war, such as O fæto de çioule (1956) and Pittaluga and Sciaccaluga (1966). Olivari’s name is linked precisely to the custom of the whole family gathering around the radio every Sunday at two o’clock after lunch, to “hear Genoese being spoken” at least once in a while, a custom that lasted until 1970, when RAI suppressed the broadcast, for various reasons. Among other names from those years that kept us glued to the radio during holidays we must also remember V. E. Petrucci, C. P. Pessino, E. Balbi, L. Anselmi, G. Marzari, P. Guidoni. In order to give his writing a more lively and forthright intonation, Olivari worked alongside his friend Eugenio Monchiero, and it must be said that the quality of the Genoese they used is remarkable (apart from the usual spelling fluctuations). The plots of Olivari’s comedies are exceedingly simple and the characters often lapse into stereotypes, but there is no denying that – reading and listening to them again – a certain flavor of the Genoa of yesteryear lingers in the air and in the memory.

Two hunters who are prone to telling lies spend the night in an inland town, where everyone has a passion for opera. To bum a dinner from them they lead them to believe that they are two opera singers, but in doing so they find themselves forced to promise them a performance for the following evening, and they even raise the hopes, not only artistic, of a failed singer, the pharmacist’s wife. They do not know how to get out of trouble elegantly, but chance will come to their rescue.