Stefano Boselli (Theatre) published the chapter “Latin America” in the collection Pirandello in Context, edited by Patricia Gaborik for Cambridge University Press. Boselli speaks about the introduction of Pirandello’s plays to Latin America, which started after the controversial Italian success of Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921), then staged by Dario Niccodemi’s company in Buenos Aires (1922), Montevideo, and Rio de Janeiro (1923).
When Pirandello’s newly-established Teatro d’Arte found itself in serious financial trouble in 1927, it welcomed the proposal by the Teatro Odeón in Buenos Aires for a tour that promised to cover the deficit. On his first trip to South America the author sparked a fervor that made him the tour’s protagonist while dispelling the perception of his theatre as a conduit for Fascist propaganda. Pirandello’s second trip in 1933 saw the author directing the successful world premiere of When One Is Somebody. An important connection between the Italian playwright and the Buenos Aires professional theatre scene was actor Luis Arata, whose company systematically offered his plays between the 1930s and 40s. Over time, Pirandellian productions spread across the official, commercial, and independent circuits and Pirandellian tropes continue to influence Argentine playwriting to this day.
