La Liola

"La Liola" (Liolà) is an Italian stage play written by Luigi Pirandello, which takes place in 19th century Naples. Massimo Ranieri plays the title character, Liola, a middle-aged single father by choice, of 3 young boys, each with a different mother. Liola is a free-spirit who wanders from town to town, looking to connect with nature, and to create children without having any ties to the mother. He tries to sell one of his boys to Zio Simone, a crabby elderly man, who becomes offended by the offer. Then he has an encounter with Mita, a former lover, who tells him that he's the father of her unborn child. Pirandelli immortalizes Liola as an ideal father, and in certain scenes in the play, Liola shows a lot of love and affection to his children.

Adaptations

• Liolà di Alessandro Blasetti, 1963
• Liolà di Gabriele Lavia, 2005