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Premiered in this translation by the Citizens Theatre Company, Glasgow. In Enrico Four a man believes he isHenry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. But is he?
Pirandello's study of perceptions has become a twentieth-century classic which invites us to consider our personal madness in offering a different face to everyone we meet.
About the author
Pirandello's prolific writing career was unusual in that he had already earned a considerable reputation as a poet and prose author before turning to the theatre relatively late in life. The premiere of 'Six Characters in Search of an Author' in 1921 established him internationally as Italy's leading playwright. Robert David MacDonald (1929 - 2004) was born in Elgin, Scotland. After originally training as a musician, he worked as a Director, Playwright and Translator. As an Assistant Director, he worked at both the Glyndebourne Opera Festival and for the Royal Opera House. In 1971, he became Co-Artistic Director of the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, where he directed fifty plays and wrote fifteen for the venue before his retirement in 2003. The plays that he wrote for the Glasgow Citz include The De Sade Show (1975), Chinchilla (1977), Summit Conference (1978), also seen in the West End with Glenda Jackson and Gary Oldman, A Waste of Time (1980), Don Juan (1980), Webster (1983), Britannicus (2002) and Cheri (2003). As a translator, MacDonald translated over seventy different plays and opera from over ten different languages including The Threepenny Opera, Tamerlano, Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, The Marriage of Figaro, Orpheus and The Human Voice, Conversation at Night, Shadow of Angels, The Balcony, The Government Inspector, Tasso, Faust I and II, Ibsen's Brand and Hedda Gabler, Lermontov's Maskerade, Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba, Moliere's School for Wives and Don Juan, Pirandello's Enrico Four, Racine's Phedre, Schiller's Mary Stuart, The Maid of Orleans and Don Carlos, Chekhov's The Seagull, Verne's Around the World In Eighty Days, Wedekind's Lulu and Goethe's Clavigo. His adaptation of War and Peace ran for two seasons on Broadway and received an Emmy award when shown on U.S television. The Finborough Theatre has previously presented Robert David MacDonald's versions of Rolf Hochhuth's Soldiers (2004) and The Representative (2006)
Summary
Premiered in this translation by the Citizens Theatre Company, Glasgow. In Enrico Four a man believes he isHenry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. But is he?
Pirandello’s study of perceptions has become a twentieth-century classic which invites us to consider our personal madness in offering a different face to everyone we meet.
Foreword
Pirandello's study of perceptions has become a twentieth century classic which asks us to consider our personal madness in offering a different face to everyone we meet.
Additional text
A piece of exquisite and intricate theatrical craftmanship – a symphony in the Chekhov manner – many voices, many themes, woven together in a loose but distinguished pattern.
