Pirandello's Theater: The Recovery of the Modern Stage for Dramatic Art

Anne Paolucci here combines her inter­ests in the theater, with her extraordinary talents as a playwright. In this sympa­thetic and perceptive first book on Piran­dello's theater she covers the entire corpus of Pirandello's work, tracing the continuity of the plays through their interre­lated themes.

Rather than simple and direct, she shows that all the Pirandellian themes are below the cheery surface; that they are developed in two parallel series of plays; and that they are brought to a cathartic dramatic effect in his last group of plays. Richly rewarding, this study of the "play­wright's playwright" is further enhanced by Anne Paolucci's own sensitive trans­lations.