The Rules of the Game (play)
Encyclopedia
The Rules of the Game is a play by Luigi Pirandello
. It was written during 1918-19 at the time when his wife was suffering from mental illness, before she was committed to a mental hospital. It was first performed at the Teatro Quirino in Rome, with Ruggero Ruggeri as Leone. The Italian title means The Game of Roles, but the play is not usually published with that title in English.
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...
. It was written during 1918-19 at the time when his wife was suffering from mental illness, before she was committed to a mental hospital. It was first performed at the Teatro Quirino in Rome, with Ruggero Ruggeri as Leone. The Italian title means The Game of Roles, but the play is not usually published with that title in English.
Plot
The principal characters are Leone, his estranged wife Silia, and a man called Guido who is having an affair with Silia. Rather than allow himself to feel betrayed and angry, Leone chooses to empty himself of all emotion, becoming in his own words like an empty eggshell. He manipulates Guido into taking his place in a duel, in which Guido dies. Other characters include a group of drunken young man, who give Silia the opportunity for her scheming, and one of whom becomes the duellist; two friends of Leone, Bartelli and Dr Spiga; and Leone's servant, Philip. This is the play that the actors are rehearsing during Six Characters in Search of an Author.Performances
The play has been translated into English by Robert Rietty. Performances in England include:- 1953: BBC Third Programme, radio.
- 1955: Arts Theatre, London: with Donald Pleasence as Leone, Melissa Stribling as Silia, Robert Cartland as Guido. Directed by John Fernald.
- 1966: The Playhouse, Oxford: with Leonard Rossiter as Leone, Judi Dench as Silia. Directed by James Grout.
- 1971: National Theatre, London: with Paul Scofield, Joan Plowright, Tom Baker. Directed by Anthony Page. Translation by Robert Rietty and David Hare.
- 1982: Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford with tour and Haymarket Theatre, London: with Leonard Rossiter, Mel Martin, Stephen Crane. Directed by Anthony Quayle.