Pirandello Pirandello Pirandello (Gleijeses, Dini, Scimone/Sframeli)

Abstract

Roberto Alonge’s contribution takes note of the fact that Pirandello’s dramaturgy constitutes a fixed point in the programmes of Italian theatres. Three Pirandello shows examined: Il piacere dell’onestà [The pleasure of honesty], Così è (se vi pare) [Thus is (if you like)] and Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore [Six characters in search of an author]. The pleasure of honesty is a good product, built on the acting skill of the first actor, Geppy Gleijeses. The second performance, directed by Filippo Dini, has the ambition to attempt new interpretative keys of a well-known text. For some traits Dini confesses his debt to the famous edition of Massimo Castri which, at the moment, remains the most convincing testimony of an original reading of the text, based on the hypothesis that the incest between father and daughter is the secret hidden in the depths of comedy. Finally the Six characters of Spiro Scimone and Francesco Sframeli, presented with the title Six, are a very interesting example of theatre adaptation. Pirandello’s famous comedy is trimmed, reduced to a performance of just over an hour, and in many places it also undergoes a rewriting operation, often personal but never random and free, because the two theatre actors from Messina are valuable artists.