Pirandello Potpourri Set for Italian Cultural Center, 6/28

Pirandello 150 Presents: Pirandello Potpourri, an evening of short pieces by the master. Tuesday, June 28th at 6pm at The Italian Cultural Institute, 686 Park Avenue (68th/69th St.) followed by a reception. John Martello and Angela Pietropinto will appear.

Pirandello 150 was created by the brand new Helluva Theater Company to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Luigi Pirandello's birth. Pirandello Potpourri on Tuesday, June 28th at The Italian Cultural Institute is a tasty preview of that festival featuring short Pirandello pieces performed by noted actors (and proud Italian -Americans) Angela Pietropinto (The Suicide, Alice In Wonderland, The Ritz), John Martello (St. Nicholas, Damon Runyon's Tales of Broadway) and John LaGioia. Soprano Erica Page who will sing an aria from the opera Six Characters In Search of An Author by Hugo Weisgall. The Pirandello 150 Festival is a year-long celebration of the lost master. It will include 14 one act plays, five major productions, a film program at the Film Forum, panel discussions and academic seminars will begin in January 2017. Among its highlights will be a revival of The Living Theater's landmark production of Tonight We Improvise in spring 2017. A Luigi Pirandello was born on June 28th, 1867 in Sicily. His twisty, challenging and always entertaining plays have graced stages in every corner of the world and he won a Nobel Prize but his work hasn't graced a Broadway state in 42 years. The iconic titles are familiar to most of us: Six Characters In Search of An Author, Right You Are (If You Think You Are)"Enrico IV" "The Rules of the Game" "As You Desire Me" "Each in His Own Way but the plays haven't been seen as much as they should be. His work has been acknowledged as a major influence by such accomplished playwrights as Eugene Ionesco, Harold Pinter and Edward Albee. With traditional social and gender roles changing all the time, Pirandello's work is timelier than ever. Prominent critic, playwright, and scholar Robert Brustein says, "The basic Pirandellian conflict is internal - between the mask one shows to the world and the actual face of the suffering individual. The truth of one's character must remain forever concealed if one is to survive in society."