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agnesthobru's review against another edition
Pensum, leste bare «Six Characters in Search of an Author»
__lv__'s review against another edition
challenging
tense
medium-paced
2.0
I’m on the fence about this one. Great concept, and for the most part, pretty well executed. But the dialog became a little tedious the third of the way through. I’ll give it 2 stars today, but I’m sure it will fluctuate between 3 and 4 starts the more I reflect upon the play.
rickycbc's review against another edition
challenging
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
lumism's review against another edition
nearly every play i've read for my metatheatre class had me spinning around in thought, but very few have made me feel much of anything. this one certainly did, though! so eerie and sad. i also read the chapter of peter szondi's book in which he talks about this play, and how the inability of the characters to communicate is what makes dramatic situations, which depend on dialogue to drive them forward, virtually impossible. i find that really really interesting; as something to analyse within the play, but also to apply to real life.
speaking of which, i particularly liked the part where the play problematises the relationship between illusion and reality! but also the relationship between dramatic texts and their performances (i hope i am using the correct english terms, since i've only studied this in croatian and online dictionaries are not being very helpful). i'd be very intrigued to also watch this on stage, and be able to compare the experiences.
speaking of which, i particularly liked the part where the play problematises the relationship between illusion and reality! but also the relationship between dramatic texts and their performances (i hope i am using the correct english terms, since i've only studied this in croatian and online dictionaries are not being very helpful). i'd be very intrigued to also watch this on stage, and be able to compare the experiences.
lalibroadicta's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the book, even though it wasn't a comedy (for me, as a reader, maybe as a play it's different)
The last part, the garden scene, I was shocked! I didn't see it coming! but it makes sense.
The one thing I didn't like was some of The Father's dialogues, he's a bit annoying.
In general, amazing! I would love to see this as a play :D
The last part, the garden scene, I was shocked! I didn't see it coming! but it makes sense.
The one thing I didn't like was some of The Father's dialogues, he's a bit annoying.
In general, amazing! I would love to see this as a play :D
paperkit's review against another edition
challenging
2.0
the play is meta on solely a surface level. I can appreciate its point of how theatre will always be more performative than a depiction of real life. in the preface Pirandello says, that he couldn't come up with a good story to put his characters in, so he put them in a play about how they don't have a story to be in - and it really ends there. the characters and plot are underdeveloped and there is nothing to be won by pretentiously interpreting intention and meaning into it. the author claiming a critic's opinion, that the mother, whose character depth is limited to being sad and helpless, is the most real and life-like character seems just like a misogynistic self-praise made up in hindsight.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and Stalking
Minor: Incest
eliasisnothere's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
"lo so bene anch'io che ciascuno ha tutta una sua vita dentro e che vorrebbe metterla fuori. ma il difficile è appunto questo: farne venir fuori quel tanto che è necessario, in rapporto con gli altri; e pure in quel poco fare intendere tutta l'altra vita che resta dentro!"
siskoid's review against another edition
4.0
The Pirandello play most people have heard of, Six Characters in Search of an Author has a family of fictional characters (apparently from a novel Pirandello abandoned, just to add another layer) crashing a play's rehearsal and begging to have their drama written and staged. Except they really don't, because directors and actors ruin everything with their changes and "play-acting". This is what the author is known for. Philosophically taking the piss out of the very form he's writing for by deconstructing the hyper-reality of theater and literature. On the one hand, he exposes the artifice - the collapsed scenes, the writerly structures, the stage conceits - and asks how we can accept this "reality". How can actors claim they "live" it? How can audiences find any kind of "truth" in it? A lot of the lively fun of the play is to hear the characters attack the translation from live to page to stage (Reality vs. Novel vs. Play?). On the other, Pirandello continues to examine the theme of identity, and whether a fictional character - designed to be someone, whole and fixed - is more real than an actual personal - who can, after all, be no one, and is ever-changing, unfinished and unfixed. When one of the characters asks the Manager (director) who he thinks he is, he teasingly reminds us that this "real person" on stage is just as much a character being played. Now let's throw that question to each and every audience member... For me, it all ends too abruptly and needs a cleverer button, but the play is nevertheless filled with meaning and interest. I wish I could see it staged, because nuances of acting might make or break it.