Others may already know the history of this play, but I did not know it in detail until reading Kieran's link and some other articles online. The Italian original version of the play had a much larger cast - at least 13 people, including several women. The play was also five hours long. Ben Power, who adapted the play to its current version, is the deputy artistic director of the UK's National Theatre. He did not do the translation; someone else did.
It sounds like the original Italian version also had the idea of the actors essentially narrating in the third person, with minimal dialogue. Although this is direction and not writing, it also seems that the Italian premiere also had a fairly minimal set and the actors dressed in formal, mostly black, 19th-century dress. The glass cube was not present. (The play actually premiered in Paris prior to its Italian premiere in Milan, I believe with a different director. I was not able to find much information about that version.)
I am curious what the final image was in the Milan version. The actors at curtain call are wearing the 19th-century dress, so it was presumably quite different. |
