Naked

by Nicholas Wright (Adapter), Luigi Pirandello

A rarely-seen Pirandello in a fresh adaptation by the author of Mrs. Klein.

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

Nicholas Verney Wright (1940, Cape Town, South Africa) is a British dramatist. He was born in Cape Town, attended Rondebosch Boys' School and from the age of six was a child actor on radio and on the stage. He came to London in 1958 to train as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and subsequently worked as a floor-assistant in BBC Television and as a runner in film, notably John Schlesinger's "Far From the Madding Crowd." He started work at the Royal Court in 1965 as Casting Director and became, first, an Assistant Director there and then the first Director of the Royal Court's Theatre Upstairs, where for several years he presented an innovatory programme of new writing. From 1975 - 1977 he was joint artistic director of the Royal Court and he was subsequently a member of the Royal Court Theatre's Board. He is former literary manager and associate director of the Royal National Theatre, and a former member of the National Theatre Board. In 2014 and 2015 he will be the judge of the Yale Drama Series competition for playwrights. His publications include 99 Plays, a survey of drama from Aeschylus to the present day, and Changing Stages, co-written with Richard Eyre.

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

A well-known novelist shelters a hounded woman but his motives are not altogether altruistic. Others appear on the scene to make their own claims on the young woman.

This play deals with identity and guilt/forgiveness. What makes an individual? What gives a person importance? How does one deal with the desire to be seen and heard, and understood? As for guilt and redemption, what is forgivable?

The young woman in the piece is portrayed as a frail, nervous creature. Perhaps she was a creation of her time (the piece premiered in 1922 in it's original version). It's also probable that the author's relationship with his mentally fragile wife has coloured this portrait. But I personally can only take so much hand-wringing and "woe-is-me." She briefly seeks out fame and that tactic was interesting to me. Otherwise she was too much of a dishrag for my taste. There also seems to be some desire for absolution but how can this be granted when she so reluctantly confesses her full culpability in the central crime?