Madness is the subject of this play, and it receives an excellent treatment in the hands of the Brattle Company and its guest star Ian Keith, who gives one of the greatest performances I have ever seen. "Henry IV" was one of the plays which won its author, Pirandello, the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1934. It is a provocative and ingenious investigation of sanity and reality, which uses the play-within-a-play idea. But with a difference.

In his madness, a modern man believes himself to be Henry IV, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He had been masquerading as such at a party on the night that he fell from his horse. As a result of this accident, he became mad and continued to play the part in a setting created by his friends--exactly like that of the historical Henry IV. After twelve years he regained objectivity but preferred to continue playing the emperor. If I understood correctly, the degree of his lucidity varies from time to time: Pirandello wanted to show that we are different people under different circumstances. He made further use of this situation for ironical comments on self-deception.

Because the play concerns three periods of time--the historical Henry IV, the past and present of the madman--plus the involved personal relationships of each, it is difficult to follow. One becomes further confused by the difficult of the play's idea. But at no time is the play dull. Mr. Keith, as Henry IV, acts with brilliant, sometimes incredible, imagination and control. At one point in the play, he held the audience's complete attention for at least fifteen minutes. The Brattle Company, no doubt inspired by working with such an actor, was in fine form. Bryant Halliday, Will West, Jerry, Kilty and a guest actress, Kathryn Eames, were especially good. Robert O'Hearn's set was extremely impressive-certainly the best work of his I have seen. And Miles Morgan's lighting was very skillful.

I can't promise that "Henry IV" will relive your mind of problems. It is not for the intellectually pigeon-livered. But I can promise that it will be a very rare and rewarding theatrical experience.