THEATRE: SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR

What is reality? What is artifice? Which form holds the most truth? Six Characters in Search of an Author, a satirical and meta-fictional theatre piece, mightn’t decisively answer the questions it readily provokes, but it certainly promises the audience plenty of food for thought. Having completed a critically acclaimed run in London’s West End, the Headlong Theatre’s contemporary reimagining of Luigi Pirandello’s classic has arrived in Australia to coincide with the Sydney Festival 2010. The filming of a television docu-drama about euthanasia is underway when the process is interrupted by the unceremonious arrival of six fictional characters in search of an author to finish their story. As footage of their compelling and seemingly fictional narrative is edited into the docu-drama, the boundaries between reality and fiction begin to appear increasingly tenuous. Pirandello’s innovative original, which courted much controversy when it premiered in Rome in 1921, is now viewed as a tour de force in absurdist theatre. Described as, “madly ingenious” (Independent) and, “bitingly funny” (London Financial Times), the Headlong Theatre’s reinterpretation not only promises Pirandello’s powerful ruminations on existence, but also a sinister parable for a media-obsessed age. Adapted by Rupert Goold and Ben Power and directed by Goold, this version of Six Characters stars stage veteran Ian McDiarmid (best known for playing the Emperor in Star Wars) and Catherine McCormack (Braveheart, A Dolls House).  

Jan 19-31, York Theatre (Seymour Centre), University of Sydney, Cnr of City Rd & Cleveland St, Chippendale, $60-70, sydneyfestival.org.au