Betti, Ugo (1892–1953), Italian playwright, much of whose work shows the influence of
Pirandello. A lawyer by profession, he gave many of his plays a legal setting, as in his most important work,
Corruzione al Palazzo di Giustizia (1949), seen in New York, as
Corruption in the Palace of Justice, in 1963. His other plays—he wrote nearly 30—include light comedies such as
Una bella domenica di settembre (
A Fine Sunday in September, 1937) and more serious works such as
Frano allo scala Nord (
Landslide on the North Quay, 1936);
Delitto all'isola delle capre (1948), seen in Oxford in 1957 as
Crime on Goat Island; Lotta fino all'alba (
The Struggle Ends at Dawn, 1949); and
Il giocatore (1951), seen in New York in 1952 as
The Gambler. In 1955 three of Betti's most important plays were seen in London in translations by Henry Reed—
Il paese delle vacanze (1942) as
Summertime; La regina e gli insorti (1951) as
The Queen and the Rebels with Irene
Worth; and
L'aiuola bruciata (1952) as
The Burnt Flower Bed. The Queen and the Rebels was seen in New York in 1982, with Colleen
Dewhurst. Betti has been called ‘the Kafka of drama’. For him the world is on trial and his characters are haunted by visions of a lost Earthly Paradise. Yet in spite of his realistic portraits of degradation, Betti was an optimist, and man's journey led ultimately to the discovery of Christ.
