Player in old plays missing climax from tricksy Italian playwright (10)

I believe the answer is:

pirandello

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'playwright' is the definition.
(I know that Pirandello is a playwright)

I can't explain the remainder of the clue.

(Other definitions for pirandello that I've seen before include "Be in complete control" , "Italian short story writer" , "Sicilian dramatist" , "writer found" , "Luigi -, Italian playwright (Six Characters in Search of an Author)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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