Enrico IV

Enrico IV ("Henry IV") is a tragedy in three acts by Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936)[1]

The original text

An expressionist work providing a stark and moving study of madness and the solitude of self-imprisonment, a study on madness with comic and tragic sides. In the play the main character is a man who believes himself to be Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and all about him conspire to maintain the fiction.

Written in 1921, it premiered on 24 February 1922 in the Teatro Manzoni in Milan. Published in Italian in 1922.

Translations and adaptations

The play has been translated into English by numerous authors over the past decades, among them:

Translated as Henri IV by Edwards Storer, 1923.

Translated and adapted as Emperor Henry by Eric Bentley, first published in 1952. His translation later also published as The Emperor (1964)

Translated as Henry IV by Frederick May, 1962

Translated as Henri IV by Julian Mitchell, 1979

Translated as Henry IV by Robert Rietty and John Wardle, 1987

Translated as Henry IV by Tom Stoppard, and first performed in 2004.

Translated and slightly adapted into Afrikaans, under the title of Die Keiser, from the original Italian, by Johann van Heerden, after a period of study and research in Italy during 1975. First performed in Stellenbosch in 1983, the text performed but not published. (A copy held in the Drama Department archive at Stellenbosch University)

Performance history in South Africa

1935: Presented by the University of Cape Town's Speech and Drama Department at the Little Theatre in September, directed by Ruth Peffers, starring the impressive newcomer Wensley Pithey. The production was a significant milestone in that theatre's development. No name is given for translator but it was most likely the Storer version.

1969: Produced as The Emperor by NAPAC, opening 24 February 1969 in St John's Theatre, Durban. Directed by Frank Shelley, decor by Bill Smuts, costumes by Lucille Cross. With Michael Atkinson, Joan Gibson, Frank Shelley, Phillip Boucher, Don McCorkindale and others.