The American Conservatory Theatre is presenting Luigi Pirandello's classic tragicomedy Enrico IV. I am not a great fan of Pirandello and had seen Enrico IV twice in 1988, once presented by the Roundabout Company in New York with Paul Hecht in the title role and once at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I was not impressed with either of those productions. This production just may change my mind about the author.

Pirandello, a master of psychological observation, demands your complete attention. The director of this play, Carey Perloff, believes Enrico IV to be one of the most influential plays of the 20th Century. "It's unlike anything that came before and it changed everything that came after. It's really an existential play and you can see Pinter and Brecht and Beckett in it."

The play's dialogue has lost some of its wooden quality due to a new adaptation by playwright Richard Nelson with a new translation from the original Italian script. The words are more alive, more current, human and sensual now.

The play tells of a 20th Century Italian who, after having fallen from his horse and being struck his head during an historical masquerade party, believes himself to be the 11th century German ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Enrico is locked up in an castle with four people dressed as 11th Century servants to wait on him as if he truly were Emperor. Twenty years pass since that fateful day when Enrico's sister, from her death bed, demands that his friends and his former lover Matilda visit Enrico to tear the madness from him.

They decide that the five will attend the castle dressed as figures of the 11th Century. Matilda is now a mature woman and she has a daughter, Frida, who is a living image of Matilda 20 years earlier. There is the son of Enrico's sister, who is to wed Frida. The two remaining members are Tito, Matilde's current husband, and a psychiatrist who impersonates the Bishop of Cluny.

The first act takes a long time getting off ground as these five explain some 50 years of 11th Century history; the battles between the king and the Pope, and the role of the Bishop of Cluny as intercessor on the king's behalf with Pope Gregory. There are few dramatic scenes with pauses too weighty and uninteresting characters. The play really gets started at the entrance of Enrico played magnificently by Marco Barricelli.

The second act moves quickly and we see sanity, delusion, illusion and revenge. The production is famous for exploring the themes of reality versus illusion and does that with the subject of real versus feigned madness. It explores how deceptively sane people support the delusions of the mentally disturbed.

Marco Barricelli, one of ACT's best actors, rises to the challenge of the role of Enrico IV. His lines are clear, he tears up the stage and he is brilliant in the role. Watching him is worth the price of admission.

Anthony Fusco, who has appeared on Broadway in Stoppard's The Real Thing and The Real Inspector, plays Tito. He shows a merriment that appears too strained for the role. Felicity Jones, lately with the Seattle Repertory Theatre, is excellent as Dona Matilda. Veteran actor Charles Lanyer grandly plays the befuddled psychiatrist.

The sets by Ralph Funicello are excellent. The throne room in the first and third act is beautifully and cleverly done. The costuming, particularly the period styles by Deborah Dryden are outstanding, and lighting by Peter Maradudin is excellent. Carey Perloff's direction is particularly crisp in the second and third acts.

The production will run through April 29th at the Geary Theater. ACT's next offering will be Athol Fugard's Master Harold ... And The Boys which opens May 4th.Tickets are $15.00 - $61.00. Call (415)749-2228 or visit www.act-sfbay.org.

- Richard Connema