Enrico IV (Plays for Performance)

Rating:
Summary: Pirandello's Art: A Kingly Paradox
Review: Enrico IV (Henry IV), is probably Pirandello's second most known play, right behind his immaculate Six Characters In Search of an Author. The play takes place in the "throne room" of a man who thinks he is Enrico IV (the Holy Roman Emperor) ever since he fell off a horse at a masquerade party. His friends and former lover return with a doctor and try to cure him of his insanity. They humor him at the beginning, then they try to find a way to resolve his mental problem. Eventually Enrico reveals that he is indeed not insane, but regresses (voluntarily?) back into his mask of playing Enrico IV. This play beautifully presents Pirandello's common themes and contains a beautifully operatic ending just as I expect from the Italian master. I recommend this book for any Theatre, English, or Comparative Literature student. This edition and translation of the book leave out a lot of useless historical references and create a very clean reading of the play. I highly encourage you to read Pirandello, anything and everything you can find, he is truly a genious of the theatre.