Six Characters in Search of an Author Written by Luigi Pirandello

AuthorLuigi Pirandello

Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936)

Pirandello was born in Girgenti, Sicily. He studied in Rome and Bonn and wrote a dissertation on the dialect of his native town in 1891. From 1897 to 1922 he was professor of aesthetics and stylistics at the Real Istituto di Magistere Femminile at Rome. Pirandello's work is impressive by its sheer volume. He wrote a great number of novellas which were collected under the title 'Novelle per un anno' and was awarded The Nobel Prize for Literature in 1934

He also wrote six novels, but his greatest achievement is in his plays. He wrote a large number of dramas which were published, between 1918 and 1935, under the collective title of Maschere nude [Naked Masks]. Pirandello is always preoccupied with the problem of identity. The self exists to him only in relation to others; it consists of changing facets that hide an inscrutable abyss.

Pirandello was part of a movement in the early 20th century called theatricalism or anti-illusionism. The theatricalists rejected realist drama and substituted the dreamlike, the expressive, and the symbolic. The theatricalists disapproved of realism because it had abandoned the defining tools of drama, such as poetry, interaction between actors and audience, soliloquies, asides and bare stages. They thought realism could not depict the inner life of human beings.

Pirandello's characters attempt to fulfil their self-seeking roles and are defeated by life itself which, always changing, enables them to see their perversity. This is Pirandello's humour, an irony which arises from the contradictions inherent in life.

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PlaySix Characters in Search of an Author

Six Characters in Search of an Author (Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore) is the most famous and celebrated play by Pirandello. A satirical tragicomedy, it was first performed in 1921 at the Teatro Valle in Rome, to a mixed reception, with shouts from the audience of 'Madhouse!'. Subsequently the play enjoyed a much better reception when, with the third edition of the play, Pirandello provided a foreword clarifying the structure and ideas contained in the play.

The play demonstrates the ideas of 'theatricalism' (outlined above) in several ways. The focus of the play is on the interactions of the six characters with the real actors in the theatre. This suggests that human beings cannot distinguish between the real and the apparent - the distinction itself is illusory. Each character sees events and the other characters differently. Their readings of reality do not match up. No one character is more correct than the other. There are as many versions of the story as there are characters in the play.

Each character is in fact many characters; each has a sense of who he or she is, but each also is what the others believe he or she is. The play suggests that we are more victims of forces we cannot control than captains of our own fate and demonstrates Pirandello's conception that in place of a continuous ego, self or "I" are states of mind, masks or personae; the temporary result of forces brought to bear on us at that moment. The self becomes an anthology of such roles or masks.

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The Bench Production

Six Characters In Search Of An Author poster image

Bench Theatre's original name was 'Theatre Union' and was later changed to reflect the name of the theatre in West Street where most of their productions were staged. This play was performed under the original Theatre Union name at Havant Grammar School (now known as Havant College). It was staged in the round, with audience on 3 sides of the stage and no lavish set.

Cast

The Producer	Ray Osborne
The Leading Lady	Maureen Burness
The Leading Man	Barry Reilly
The Second Actress	Pamela Smith
The Third Actress	Trina Hogg
The Ingenue	Francoise Cullet
The Juvenile Lead	Clive Wilson
The Stage Manager	Nic Dawson
The Second Actor	Tim Mahoney
The Prompter	Roland Goodbody
The Property Man	David Spackman
The Father	Derek Cusdin
The Mother	Eileen Baatz
The Stepdaughter	Jane Henderson
The Son	John Cohen
The Boy	David Gatfield
The Little Girl	Melanie Burness
Madam Pace	Gabrielle Finken

Crew

Director	Keith Milner
Producer	Keith Milner
Stage Crew	Nic Dawson Reg Emery Andy Sleigh Simon Bull Jeff Colville

Notes

This play was the first produced by Havant's 'Theatre Union'; a newly-formed group of enthusiasts with a passion for high-quality theatre. Producer/Director, Keith Milner's thoughts on both the inaugural production and the company's vision as a whole were recorded in an interview he gave to a reporter from The News in the week preceding those first performances. He vowed to handle only challenging material and not "pander to the box office" - an unusually bold policy for a company just getting off the ground. In addition the group itself was refreshingly democratic with Milner declaring he "did not believe" in the star system. He also declared himself to be in the happy situation of sorting out some "tremendous competition" for parts.

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Reviews

The NewsM.A.

Havant cast fulfils all expectations

The realism of much of "Six Characters in Search of an Author" at Havant last night was so great that THE NEWS was read on stage...

Pirandello's play is the first major production of Theatre Union. In the interval, which constitutes the rehearsal of a rather second-rate theatrical company, the actors stay on stage chatting, drinking coffee, and reading the papers. This sort of realism must have been an easy enough achievement for director Keith Milner. So must the almost frightening contrast in the entrances of the "six characters" and of Madam Pace. The great achievement of the production is its success in contrasting not only the naturalism of the stage company with the stylisation of the "characters", but also the unreal illusory world of the company with the brutal reality of the characters' world.

Death comes as the climax of a subtly mounting insistence on this reality, and the final gun-shot leaves the superficiality of the stage company stripped to the bone. Most thoroughly shattered of all is the company's producer, played by Ray Osborne. He catches every nuance of this rather likeable, rather stupid, ineffectual bully. He is that rare thing - an actor who can play the actor.

Special mentions must go to Derek Cusdin, in the abominably difficult part of the father, and to Eileen Baatz, who makes every broken sob speak. And above all Jane Henderson, Mrs Baatz's daughter in life as on stage, belied her 15 years with a show of huge poise and maturity. She aims to become a professional actress. She has the subtlety, the power, and the range to take her a long way. But in this sort of production honour should be shared equally among the cast and all the back-room brigade. Havant has long been expecting great things of Theatre Union - and at last Theatre Union is supplying great things. There are further performances at Havant Grammar School tonight and on Saturday.

The News, 21st May 1970

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Production Photographs

Ray Osborne, Francoise Cullet, Maureen Burness

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