Liola is currently featuring at the National Theatre. It is one of the lesser-known pieces by Luigi Pirandello who wrote it in 1916. The story is set in a small village in Sicily and unites the destinies of Liola, a young and charming peasant, and of Simone Palumbo, a rich and old bourgeois with no heirs for his fortune. It is the women of the village who intertwine their paths in an absurd tragic comedy.
What is tragic about it the blind greed of some of its characters who would be ready to sacrifice their integrity to either perpetuate their fame and glory or to just to step up the social ladder. Their negativity is exaggerated by the contract with the purity and honesty of those who instead accept their own social status and strive to enjoy the life that’s been given to them.
I could not avoid comparing what I saw on stage to my mental picture of Southern Italy. I noticed many gestures and traditions that in my mind belonged to the Greek heritage. This made me realise how similar our cultures might look to those who don’t share Mediterranean blood.
Rory Keenan’s Liola is incredibly charming. He brings to the stage a very harmonious well-rounded character: fun and lighthearted, yet firm and loyal to his principles. Less convincing is the interpretation of James Hayer, Simone Palumbo, and Aisling O’Sullivan, Croce. Their characters felt little in tune with the historical setting: both Croce and Simone are in positions of power, though they both lacked the authority and presence such position entails. They felt like parodies of their own characters: bullied, insecure and frail.
The aim of this play is not to depict the Sicily of the time or to concentrate on its social imbalances – and it doesn’t. It entertains. It leaves the audience with the light heart of a finale that rewards the just and honest while punishing those who don’t play fair.
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