Six Characters In Search Of An Author by Luigi Pirandello

 

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players

-As You Like It, Shakespeare. 

I thought of that quote while reading Six Characters In Search Of An Author. I thought how we all play parts and roles throughout our day and through our interactions with others. It's a true statement and shown so brilliantly in this short play.
The stage is set with a director and cast rehearsing a play, one that has been written and performed by other players. In the midst of the rehearsal, six people, characters walk in and ask for their drama to put forth as a play. Since their play has not been written the characters act out their drama, melding it with the director's vision of what a play should look like. These six characters have pain, love, shame, hatred, and grief to show. The story is disjointed like if you were at a dinner party and everyone was telling you their viewpoint of the same story. The end didn't feel like an ending to me. It just kind of stopped but the characters continue on. They don't stop.
A lot different than I was expecting but enjoyable all the same.