Liolà

Liolà is a Sicilian comedy by Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936)[1]

The original text

Set in 19th century Sicily, it tells of the life of Liolà, a middle-aged free spirit, father of three boys, each by a different mother, who wanders from town to town, seeking to engage with nature.

It was Pirandello's first play and premiered on November 4, 1916, in the Teatro Argentina, Rome.

Liolà was originally written in the Sicilian dialect known as "Agrigento", and premiered on November 4, 1916, in the Teatro Argentina, Rome. It was translated into Italian by Pirandello himself in 1928, and later totally reworked for the 1937 Italian stage version.

Translations and adaptations

Apparently English versions usually retained the Italian title, though this was probably the play that was performed in English as The Idler in South Africa by Con de Villiers and his students at the University of Stellenbosch in the mid 1920s - possibly a version by De Villiers himself. (See below.)

Twice filmed as Liolà (by Alessandro Blasetti in 1963 and by Gabriele Lavia in 2005).

Performance history in South Africa

1925/6?: A play called The Idler, ascribed to Pirandello, performed by a student company at the University of Stellenbosch, directed by Con de Villiers in the mid 1920s featuring, inter alia, Hélène Botha. This was most probably an English version of Liolà .