Six Characters Looking for an Author

Six Characters Looking For an Author is an unconventional play with an intriguing premise, but is quite difficult to comprehend. The Play was written by Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello in 1921 and has its roots in the Futurist movement, which called for an end of old art and an obsession with everything that is new, energetic, fast and futuristic. Pirandello’s work provokes these themes, churning audiences to either regard it as ground-breaking or insane. The 1921 premiere of the work in Italy is famous for having the spectators yell “Manicomio” which is translated to English as madhouse or asylum. It is also likely that Pirandello’s unstable personal life, which was riddled with family troubles, is an inspiration for this disjointed and hectic narrative.

This version performed by The Promenade Players Theater Company maintains the experimental spirit of the original. As the audiences take their seats prior to the show a man onstage is arbitrarily painting the walls paying no attention to the accumulating people behind him. Has the play started? I wondered. Is the painter preparing the stage for the first scene or is he a part of the play at all? Once curtain time passes the painter is joined by other people who are preparing to produce a play. A couple stage managers, a few actors, and the director emerge and start to discuss (to put it mildly) what their play is about when the scene is interrupted by four characters (six in the original, hence the title of the play) who burst onstage yelling at one another, the people preparing their play and the audience. When it settles down we learn that these four people are actually unfinished characters in an author’s imagination who has abandoned them. These characters who are shards of incomplete personalities are consequently in deep anguish and struggling with their existence. The director is initially outraged at this interruption but slowly becomes interested in the stories of these shattered people and decides to make his play about them.

The resulting scene involves two of the incomplete characters (Father and Step-Daughter) trying to understand some of their inner turmoil by acting out a scene written by their abandoned author. When the director tells them to write down their lines the characters protest saying “The book is within us!” alluding to the idea that usually what is created in theater is a misrepresentation of reality. This idea is cleverly built upon when two actors are selected to play the parts of the characters much to the characters distress. The actors defend that they improve the drama whereas the characters claim they are essentially fake and don’t contain the same emotions as the real thing. The play is full of similar contentions and will often break into an argument among the director, cast and crew and the incomplete characters. Most often it is the Father and director who go at it, usually arguing about human existence and illusion versus reality in theater.

The set-up of the play provides an excellent forum for examining a wide-range of philosophical questions about art, theater, illusion, imagination, and the human personality. However, in the end, I found the sheer chaos of the play distracting and was unable to draw substantial conclusions from the play’s content about many of these questions. I understand this chaos is very much a part of the play’s character, but instead of allowing for an investigation of this chaos the play becomes entangled within it. Truly I can say I have never seen a play like it, although many of its themes have been expounded upon in other art forms.

I definitely admire its innovative approach to theater and its all-encompassing wild nature. Also, the staging of the conversations between the characters is excellent at achieving vivid dramatic relationships between the characters. For all the avant-garde lovers out there or anyone who enjoys having their perspectives of theater challenged this play is a must see.

The play is directed by Douglas Matranga. The cast includes Paul Magaletta as Technician, Danette Garrelts as Stage Manager, Alain Washnevsky as Assistant Stage Manager, Rodrigo Brand as Lead Actor, Vincent Lappas as The Director, Mariana Montes as Lead Actress, Zahra Zaveri as Usher, Clyde Small as Father, Caileigh Scott as Step-daughter, Isel Ahn as Mother, Edgardo Gonzales as Son, and  Zahra Zaveri as Madame Pace

The play is running at The Promenade Playhouse from June 15^th until July 21^th Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm. The theater is located at 1404 3^rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA, 91401. Tickets are $20 general admission and $5 off for seniors and students. To purchase tickets call (310) 656-6070, reserve online at www.plays411.com/diningroom  or buy them at the door.

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