This fourth volume of Pirandello’s Collected Plays contains four plays written between 1916 and 1930 and covers most of the productive years of Pirandello’s life. It is difficult to
over-estimate the importance of Pirandello in twentieth-century theatre. Like Ibsen and Chekhov he held a mirror to life tilted to bring out the banalities, tragedies and absurdities that are
present in the human condition, and like those that followed him, Ionesco, Beckett and Brecht in particular, he uses the stage in radical new ways, mingling waking reality with dreams, and
allowing us to see the truth behind appearances that may not be so clear to the characters he portrays. Pirandello is one of the most seminal figures of the modern theatre, but his influence
can be seen everywhere in the great expressionist, surrealist and other movements of twentieth-century art. In addition, he is as entertaining as he is provoking: a Pirandello performance is an
unforgettable event.
