Sua Eccellenza!

About the play

Sua Eccellenza by Nino Martoglio is set in Sicily, in the period just preceding the first World War, a period in which titled nobility still demanded, and dutifully received, due homage.

We see the growth of a moneyed middle class, without titles but with a growing sense of importance and pride, which would soon challenge the privileges of the titled few. This new bourgeoisie, for so long impressed by the importance of titles, in part still clings to the belief that a title can aid in the acquisition of power and prestige.

The play thus confronts an age-old problem in Sicily, no doubt equally applicable to the rest of Italy: that is, the ability of the clever and privileged few to manipulate others and to dazzle them with either titles or power, in order to exploit them for their own means. This underlying message is lightened by love intrigues and by comical exchanges between some of the characters, but it nevertheless permeates the whole play. Martoglio’s final message, hinting that the state of affairs may be changing, is nevertheless tinged with undisguised cynicism at the end of the play.