Six Characters in Search of an Author (1996 revival)

From the first shattering moment when the ethereal Six Characters in Search of an Author crossed the stage of the A.R.T., audiences across the U.S., and as far away as Europe and the Far East have been thrilled and haunted by these spectral beings. Pirandello’s 20th-century masterpiece opens in a bare backstage area where the actors of the A.R.T. Company are rehearsing. Six people—who claim to be characters from a play abandoned by their author—make a sudden appearance and seek new life by asking the actors to enact their drama. Pirandello’s brilliant exploration of the nature of reality versus illusion, truth versus artifice, and the workings of the creative process is being presented in a newly updated version.