La vita nuova

Luigi Pirandello’s gripping novel The Late Mattia Pascal (1904), with its colorful cast of characters, introduces us to Mattia, a man living in a small Italian village who discovers his own obituary in the newspaper. Is this not an extraordinary opportunity to cut all ties with his past, discard it like a miserable draft, and start his life anew, completely free? But is a perfect life even possible? Can one escape from oneself, from the world’s corruption or the law, or even from love and compassion?

It has been nearly a century since the works of Luigi Pirandello, the Italian literary classic, first reached Estonian theatre. Since then, his plays—focusing on the conflict between life and theatre, truth and illusion—have offered both joy and philosophical depth to Estonian stages. However, Pirandello was also a renowned prose writer. This production marks the first attempt in Estonia to bring one of his novels to the stage.

Premiere: May 2, 2026 – Harbour Theatre