Henry IV, A Tragedy in Three Acts

Luigi Pirandello’s Henry IV, A Tragedy in Three Acts plunges listeners into a disturbing, brilliant exploration of identity, illusion, and the theater of life. When a celebrated actor-historian is thrown from his horse while portraying Henry IV and awakens convinced he actually is the medieval monarch, his family stages an elaborate, two-decade deception: a remote villa populated by hired players acting as the king’s courtiers and staging an eleventh-century court. Over the course of a single day, as a newly summoned doctor and the man’s scheming nephew confront the fragile boundary between performance and truth, Pirandello exposes the cruelty and compassion of role-playing, the instability of self, and the corrosive power of sustained artifice. A landmark of modern dramatic works, the play blends psychological intensity, sardonic wit, and theatrical self-reflection, reflecting early twentieth-century concerns about reality, madness, and the masks we wear. Ideal for listeners who love classic drama, psychological plays, or meta-theatrical fiction, this audiobook rewards theater lovers, students, and anyone intrigued by how performance shapes identity and fate.