Luigi Pirandello National Theater Prize, now in its twenty-first edition, is a recognition that is awarded every two years to dramatists, scholars, actors and directors who have particularly distinguished themselves in the theater field.

Established in Palermo in 1966 by Ferdinando Stagno d'Alcontres (who was at that time president of the Central Savings bank Vittorio Emanuele for the Sicilian provinces), the Award aims to commemorate and celebrate the work of the famous Sicilian playwright Luigi Pirandello (Agrigento, 28 June 1867 - Rome, 10 December 1936). It has been  organized by the Sicilicassa S.p.a bank and then by the Lauro Chiazzese della Sicilcassa Foundation, under the patronage of the Presidency of the Republic. The awards ceremony  was  held for years in the Quirinale (until 1997).

The prestigious award has been assigned, in its various editions, to personalities likes Vittorio Gassman, Ingmar Bergman, Eduardo de Filippo, Luca Ronconi, Giorgio Strehler, Dario Fo, Bernard Minetti, Eugenio Barba, Harold Pinter, Tadeusz Kantor, Elvio Porta, and others.

In 2008, after eleven years from the last edition, the Banco di Sicilia Foundation (now Fondazione Sicilia, which has incorporated the Lauro Chiazzese Foundation), has acquired the title of the award and has relaunched the competition including new sections: "National Theater Award", "International Award", prize for the "historical-critical essay " and prize for the " philological essay ".

In 2017,  on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great dramatist and the 50th anniversary of its foundation, the Award moved from Palermo to Agrigento, as part of the Festival "La strada degli Scrittori" and was assigned to Toni Servillo by the members of the jury, chaired by Gianni Puglisi (president of the Sicily Foundation and vice president of Treccani) and currently composed by: Giorgio Albertazzi, Paolo Bosisio, Pietro Carriglio, Michele Guardì, Paolo Mauri, Maurizio Scaparro, Elisabetta Sgarbi, Roberto Alajmo and Alessandro Preziosi.