Luigi Pirandello

Six Characters in Search of an Author

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play

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Six Characters in Search of an Author is the most played piece of the 20th century. It deals with the relation of reality to a theater performance and the illusion of visualization, something that most plays try to forget. The 20th century brought with it the loss of illusions, the roles lost their authenticity, which led to a crisis of drama. The text became the role, and the actor the craftsman of appearance. Pirandello examines whether the possibility of interconnecting reality and performance still exists. The symbolic figures of Six Characters in Search of an Author don’t know what to do, because they are only costumes and roles that weren’t written by anyone yet. But when one of them gets written, he’s not himself anymore: they transform from individuals into untruthful personalities. It’s a pressing, but at the same time, an amusing game.

“We are trying to strangle what is anecdotal, to wipe out the concept of a »well-made piece«… One day, Pirandello put himself to work and with a thoughtful mischief [...] entirely strangled it, with Six Characters in Search of an Author.” writes Jean Anouilh in one of his letters. In 1921, and even more so after the 1925 adaptation, the author indeed created a bold new work, which linked to several trends from symbolism and expressionism to futurism. Even though the work’s premiere raised a few people’s interest and sympathy, it failed in Rome, but a few days later, in Milan, it was a huge success, consequently reaching world fame.

The premiere in 1923 is remembered as a great event of the French cultural life: the Russian Georges Pitoëff directed it, and even played the main character (the Father). In his interpretation, the piece was an expressionist vision: the characters entered the stage on an elevator, with a strong green spotlight directed at them. Pirandello initially disliked this interpretation, but soon became aware of its significance and its effect could be felt on the final version of his piece.

The director of the show, Zakariás Zalán graduated from I. L. Caragiale University of Theater and Film Arts with a director’s degree in 2006. Most recently, he worked with the troupe of Tomcsa Sándor Theater on bringing Ödön von Horváth’s piece, Tales from the Vienna Woods, to the stage, with which the Székelyudvarhely company attended the Kisvárda Festival of Hungarian Theatres. Zakariás also directed plays in Sepsiszentgyörgy, Bucharest and Kolozsvár.

Many said that Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) was one of the most influential playwrights of the 20th century, but he was 31 years old when he started writing dramas and 49 when he first hit the stage. He was Sicilian. He also inherited the most Southern Italian language and its passion.

His family disowned him twice because he got engaged with two women who were not approved by his parents. After his parents disowned him, he left both women. His diverse love life became more famous in some circles of Sicily than his writing. Later on, he met the daughter of his father’s partner, and fell in love with her. His parents approved the relationship, for this way, the partnership of sulfur mining and sulfur purification would unite. However, due to a landslide, the huge sulfur mine collapsed. The big business collapsed in the fraction of a second and the income that provided their carefree life disappeared. Pirandello’s wife first fell into a melancholic state and soon she started showing signs of insanity. She started to have delusions, she became schizophrenic and was not able to tell imagination from reality. However, Pirandello was so in love with his perplexed wife that he did not let her into a madhouse. He agreed to take care of her at home. From that time on, in order to keep the spiritual harmony, he started to imagine his wife’s delusions and he set up himself in her split personality. Only in this way can we understand the characterization of his greatest dramas: the realization of the constant duality of consciousness. This is how they lived on for twenty years, until the death of the woman. He was unfaithful to healthy women, and stayed lovingly faithful to the sick one. Then, the widowed man, over fifty, chased women until his very last day, especially liking the actresses who succeeded in his plays.

 

The actors:

The Father: Kardos M. Róbert

The Mother: Tóth Tünde

The Stepdaughter:

The Son: Dimény Levente

The Little Boy: -

The Little Girl: -

Madam Pace: Halasi Erzsébet

The Director: Dobos Imre

The Actress #1: Firtos Edit

The Actor #1: ifj. Kovács Levente

The Actress #2: Fábián Enikő

The Young Actress: Gajai Ágnes

The Young Actor: Szotyori József

Actor: Tóth Albert Bálint

Actor: Pál Hunor

Actor: Csepei Róbert

Actor: Kiss Csaba

Actress: Molnár Júlia

Actress: Kovács Enikő

Stage Manager: Hajdu Géza

Prompter: Csíky Ibolya

The Assistant: Kocsis Gyula

The Stage Manager: Csatlós Lóránt

Actor: Varga Balázs

 

Directed by: Zakariás Zalán

Set design: Csíki Csaba

Costume design: György Eszter

Stage Manager: Joó Emília

Prompter: Tentea Katalin

Sound: Zsurka József

Sound: Bõsze László

Lights: Nosz Botond

Lights: Nagy Imre

 

Premiere: 2010.10.23

Cast of characters:

Premier: 2010.10.23