This production of Pirandello's Henry IV begins even before you walk through the theatre door. For on entering you find yourself in the throne room, where the King sits in deep contemplation, perhaps of what is to come. When he has reached a conclusion he leaves, allowing the performance proper to begin. 
      This is the story of a wealthy man who has gone mad and truly believes himself to be the medieval German Emperor Henry IV, whom he played at a costume party 20 years earlier. Now all those who come to visit him must also adopt a role as members of, or visitors to, his court in medieval Europe. He has been the same age, fighting the same battles, for 20 years, as the friends and family around him grow older, change, and continue their lives. 
      The quality of the production is high, with engaging actors and an austere set that is at once able to serve as a medieval court and a modern space. Like Berthold some in the auduence were confused at the beginning, wondering what was happening - but they were soon engaged and entranced, the spell only occasionally being broken when the play's pace quickened too far. 
      The question of human identity is central to Pirandello's play, which asks whether we are not all busy playing roles which obscure who we really are. The idea that everyone is an actor left the audience with a conundrum: just as they entered the theatre to find that the performance had already begun, so they left it wondering whether it had really ended.
Alan Boyd