Key Stage Five, AS
Edexcel board.
Fully photocopiable folder of teaching ideas and student handouts.

Not familiar with the play Six Characters in Search of an Author? Here’s our writers’ thoughts….

Written in 1921, Luigi Pirandello’s play Six Characters in Search of An Author was, in its day, a piece of ground-breaking and innovative theatre. Pirandello is considered to be one of the first twentieth century modernists. He was a playwright who wanted to change the rules and break through boundaries; his experimental style paved the way for later names such as Beckett and Artaud. His play was well ahead of his time: a riot broke out during its first Italian production and in 1922 the English Lord Chamberlain banned it. Audiences of his day were not used to his experimental ideas about theatre.

In short, the play is about a group of Actors, together with their Director, who are rehearsing a play, when they are interrupted by the arrival of Six Characters. The Six Characters then explain that they are part of an unfinished story and are searching for their author to complete the play. The Director agrees to hear their story and act it out. Whilst acting out the Six Characters’ story, Pirandello shows the madness of theatre, the absurdity of trying to create the illusion of reality on stage and the blurring of boundaries between fiction and reality.

It’s a great play to teach with sixth formers because it is an energetic, fun and experimental play. It’s a highly experimental text and requires imaginative ensemble acting. It would be a great play to introduce students to the work of Brecht, because of its ideas about truth and reality, especially its use of Meta-Theatre and the playwright’s desire to expose the play’s artificiality.

In terms of teaching opportunities, the play opens up a spectrum of topics to introduce students to: experimental existential, absurd theatre, tragicomedies, Meta-Theatre, modern devices, masks, theatre as an illusion to name but a few. It’s a great text to teach because it opens up a host of teaching subjects that will not only allow pupils to gain a deep understanding of this text but will also broaden students’ understanding of theatre and theatre’s ability to portray reality and illusion on stage.