February 12, 2004

Italian comic masterpiece ‘Six Characters’ plays at Barber Theatre

Nobel Prize-winning Italian author Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) was one of the most original and powerful dramatists of his time. He was a master at blending theatrical illusion and reality.

Pirandello’s comedy “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” considered to be his masterpiece, will be performed at the Ethel M. Barber Theatre from Feb. 13 through Feb. 22.

Filled with humor and despair, it concerns six living characters — family members embroiled in their own human drama — who come to a theatre and demand that the manager and his actors stage their life story. Suggesting that life defies all simple interpretations, Pirandello’s characters rebel against their creator.

Bud Beyer, the theatre professor who will direct the performances, said the play exists as a form of cubism. Cubism asks us to see two sides of the same object at the same time and creates a forum to express opposite qualities: light and dark, good and evil, or real and imagined.

“At the core of this Pirandello play is the very human aspect of searching for the meaning and purpose of our own existence,” said Beyer. “We all feel we are the central characters in our own lives, yet so much seems to exist beyond our control. We wander the earth searching for someone to write our play. How much do we write ourselves? How much is written for us?”

Beyer said this play also asks the question “What is real?” specifically, “How real is theatre?”

Single tickets for “Six Characters in Search of an Author” are $17 for the general public; $15 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $9 for full-time students.

To order tickets by phone, call the Theatre and Interpretation Center box office at (847) 491-7282.