“Each of us narrates our life as it suits us,” writes Elena Ferrante in Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, the third novel in her Neapolitan Quartet. The novels follow the friendship of two girls growing up in postwar Naples, and Ferrante’s theme—reality as the sum of competing truths—is alive throughout all four. Published in over 50 countries and recently adapted into a television mini series, Ferrante’s tale was also made into a two-part play, titled for the first novel, My Brilliant Friend. After a sell-out run at the Rose Theatre in 2017, the two-part play now debuts on the Olivier Stage at the National Theatre. —J.V.