"Divorcons", Abba insisted on working on a new translation so that the words "would fit her mouth." Abba was also a stickler for realism, insisting that Frank Monoco, a leading Cleveland restaurateur, play the maitre d'hotel so that he could serve an entire dinner onstage, which included the carving a whole fowl. Cain Park is an outdoor theatre which provided no shelter for the audience in the 1940s. The final performance of "Divorcons" had to be relocated to Severance Hall because of rain. Marta Abba used her own limousine to transport props and costumes to the Hall where the performance occurred "against the drapes". The scenic design for "Divorcons" was by the American industrial designer Viktor Schreckengost. The total attendance for the 4 performances of "Divorcons" was 11,183 paid admissions, so Cain Park Theatre was eager to have Abba return in another production. Abba consented to appear in Pirandello's "Right You Are (If You Say You Are)" the next year. When Abba had appeared in the original production of the play in Italy, she had a small role. This time, she took the lead of the aging Lady Frola. Although a director had been assigned to the production, Abba quickly overtook those duties herself. Dr. Dina Rees Evans, supervising director of Cain Park, recalled: "She wanted to have rehearsals longer than we were able to have them, many times four, five and seven hour sessions. She was used to them, but eventually came to understand that other plays were in rehearsal, and some of her cast was playing at night as well. Miss Abba suggested that she didn't like having actors sit down during rehearsals, it sets the atmosphere and the mood of being on your toes. She instructed (the cast) to listen carefully to scenes they were in and those they were not in." This production was the only time Abba performed in a play by Pirandello in the United States. Abba expressed an interest in starting an acting school, using the sunken garden area of the Severance Estate as a performing area. However, divorce proceedings soon ensued and Abba returned to Italy. In the last years of her life she suffered from paresis and had to use a wheelchair. She died, at 87, in Milan, from a cerebral hemorrhage, 1 Day Before her 88th Birthday She published her autobiography in Italian, La mia vita di attrice. Selected filmography