Enrico IV
by Luigi Pirandello. 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.
It has been translated into English by Tom Stoppard and others. Sometimes titled Henry IV and also written Henri IV, possibly to avoid confusion with Shakespeare's plays.
Performance history in South Africa
Presented at the Little Theatre Cape Town in 1935 as a significant milestone in that theatre's development. The cast included the impressive newcomer Wensley Pithey. **
A CAPAB production of the English version, with Michael Atkinson in the title role, toured the country in 196*. (CHECK!!)
Translations and adaptations
Translated into Afrikaans, under the original title of Enrico IV, from the original Italian, by Johann van Heerden, after a period of study and research in Italy during 1975. The translation was produced with students from the Drama Department at Stellenbosch University in 1983, directed by Van Heerden.
Sources
Curriculum Vitae of Johann van Heerden (2011)
Correspondence with Johann van Heerden (11 Feb 2012)
Go to ESAT Bibliography
Return to
Return to E in Plays II Foreign Plays
Return to South_African_Theatre/Plays
Return to The ESAT Entries
Return to Main Page
