Staging in Six Characters in Search of an Author :: essays papers

Staging in Six Characters in essay of an AuthorPirandellos masterpiece, Six Characters in Search of an Author iswell know for its innovative techniques of characterization,especially in the fullness of character as exhibited by theStepdaughter and the Father, but it is especially notable, andrightfully so, for the brilliant staging techniques employed by itsauthor. Pirandello utilizes his innovative staging techniques specificallyto symbolize, within the confines of the field of operations, the blending of thetheater and real life. Chief among these, of course, is the way inwhich the author involves the audience in his production, to the pointwhich, like a medieval audience, they become part of the action, andindeed, a character in its own right. The use of lines provided in theplaybill was the first of its descriptor never before had an author dared toask the members of the audience to perform, even though unpaid, andindeed, paying for the experience themselves. But with em erge those lines,how much less impressive would that bit be when the Director,understandably at the end of his rope with the greedy characters (who excite been from the start trying to coerce him into writing a script fornon-union wages), shouts public Fantasy Who needs this Whatdoes this mean? and the audience, in unison, shouts back, Its usWere here The twinkling immediately after that, when the whole castlaughs forecastly at the audience, pointing at them in glee, is nearlyunbearable for an audience, as shown b y the scream after the firstperformance, when the audience not only ripped the seats out of thetheater, but stole the popcorn. Pirandello also used a technique heinherited from the Cirque de Soleil, involving a trapeze hung fromthe catwalk. But though the trapeze was not in itself his owninvention, its use during the intermission as a means to vex theaudience was absolutely innovative. He had gotten the idea fromwatching the inhabitants at the noetic instit ution in Switzerland wherehis wife was recuperating from a Venetian holiday. The Swiss hospital,renowned for its experimentation, had started a program of gymnastics,meant to boost the patients self-esteem. The Stepdaughters forayabove the audiences heads, during the intermission, is a directreflection of that Swiss technique no one before Pirandello had daredto use it in the theater before, but it not only symbolized neatly theproblems with defining reality inherent in the text, but kept theaudience from really getting a rest during the intermission, since