Three essential plays by one of Europe's foremost 20th century dramatists The Rules of the Game (1918) is based closely on the author's own unhappy marriage centred around Leone Gala and his wife who are separated, their only contract, a formal visiting procedure; Henry 1V, shows the effect of madness and delusion on the figure of a king (1922); and in Six Characters in Search of an Author six actors are trapped inside a rehearsal for an unwritten play desperately needing a writer to complete their story and release them. Intrigued by their situation, the director and his company of actors listen as the characters begin to describe and argue over the key events of their lives. This, his best known play, caused riots when it was first produced at the Teatro Valle in Rome in 1921.