Originally published on 14 April 2016 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and Sierra Madre Weekly

When Luigi Pirandello’s early play Six Characters in Search of an Author was first performed in 1921 at the Teatro Valle in Rome the audience protested with shouts of “manicomio!” (madhouse) because of the play’s irrational premise. Pirandello had to write a third edition in 1925 with a foreword to clarify the idea he wished to convey.

A precursor to the Theatre of the Absurd, Six Characters in Search of an Author, blurs the line between reality and illusion. It premieres at A Noise Within  (ANW) in Pasadena from March 27 to May 14, 2016 with Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott as co-directors.

Essentially a play within a play, it takes place in a rehearsal room where an acting company is working when they are interrupted by six people who come in from the street. They explain to the director that they are unfinished characters in search of an author to complete their story. While the director initially thinks them to be mad, he gives in to their claim as they relate their story. 

Elliott explains, “The director buys into it and agrees to stage their story.  But then a debate ensues as to who would best play the roles. The actors are convinced they are the ones who could bring the words to life and make these characters relatable human beings. Meanwhile the six characters argue that they should play themselves because anything otherwise would merely be an interpretation, and not who they really are.”  

Adds Rodriguez-Elliott, “This is why when Six Characters was first produced onstage there were protests. The play challenged the very nature of theatre; it showed how implausible theatre is. But when you parse it down to its most basic, it isn’t just an esoteric idea but a tale of passions.  It’s almost Shakespearean as it tackles infidelity, suicide and, possibly, incest. It is a story about a family seeking relief from a horrible event that has befallen them. And they believe that they would find that release they so desperately need if they could tell their story. It suggests theatre’s healing and therapeutic power.”

“Pirandello had these characters in his head who were so alive for him but he didn’t know how to use them or what play to put them in. Yet he couldn’t get them out of his mind,” Rodriguez-Elliott continues.

“They just wouldn’t leave him alone” Elliott interrupts with a laugh. “They kept causing great frustration so finally he gives in and lets them insert themselves into this rehearsal. I can’t help but think that writing this play must have been very cathartic for Pirandello. All writers or screenwriters, generally, dread to hand their work over to the actors because the actors will decide to rewrite it and make it into something they didn’t have in mind at all. What a joy it must have been for Pirandello to watch what happens when he haphazardly throws these characters into a play!”

Rodriguez-Elliott relates, “It’s quite fascinating – as we started working on the material, we saw the brilliance of Pirandello’s writing. We didn’t really completely comprehend it until we got into rehearsal and discovered its many facets. And, frankly, I found even more humanity in these individuals as we peeled away their layers.”

As Elliott puts it, “This play, more than any of the others we’ve done, reveals itself to us. It shows how your thoughts could change as you delve deeper into the story. It is fundamentally about a dysfunctional family. Who couldn’t relate to that?”

“Theatrically, it’s quite interesting to put on. We start out with a neutral rehearsal room with nothing much in the way of a set – a piano, some chairs, maybe. As the characters begin to tell their story, color is introduced; a garden comes to life; things appear and then disappear. The space takes on their reality at some point and you see that manifest itself through the pieces on the set. In a way it’s like our imagination; it can take us to certain places,” Rodriguez-Elliott elaborates.

“We hope Six Characters gives our audience a chance to experience theatre in its most non-linear sense and give in to it. Pirandello asks a lot of questions and puts them all out there. He doesn’t necessarily give us a solution nor neatly ties things together. It’s going to mean different things to disparate people; we can all observe the same event but each one of us would have a different perspective,” Rodriguez-Elliott concludes. 

In announcing the theatre company’s theme for the 2015-2016 season, Elliott declared, “As a recurring thematic element, ‘Breaking and Entering’ symbolizes breaking down the walls of ignorance or fear and summoning the personal courage to embrace a greater sense of truth. These plays are inhabited by characters who do just that.”

How apropos that Six Characters in Search of an Author culminates ANW’s impressive season staging groundbreaking masterpieces by playwrights who have given us permission to see beyond the obvious.