Six Characters in Search of an Author - Couverture souple

Pirandello, Luigi; Storer, Edward

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0486299929 ISBN 13 : 9780486299921

Editeur : Dover Publications Inc., 1997

Synopsis

One of the major figures of modern theater, Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) wrote dramas and satires that sparked controversy with their radical departures from conventional theatrical techniques. His most celebrated work, Six Characters in Search of an Author, embodies the Nobel Prize-winning playwright's innovations by presenting an open-ended drama on a stage without sets.
First performed in 1923, this intellectual comedy introduces six individuals to a stage where a company of actors has assembled for a rehearsal. Claiming to be the incomplete, unused creations of an author's imagination, they demand lines for a story that will explain the details of their lives. In ensuing scenes, these real-life characters, all professing to be part of an extended family, produce a drama of sorts -- punctuated by disagreements, interruptions, and arguments. In the end they are dismissed by the irate manager, their dilemma unsolved and the truth a matter of individual viewpoints.
A tour de force exploring the many faces of reality, this classic is now available in an inexpensive edition that will be welcomed by amateur theatrical groups as well as students of drama.

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur

Luigi Pirandello was born in Sicily in 1867 and died in Rome in 1936, where he had first settled as a professional writer in 1893. The following year he married a woman whose mental health collapsed in 1904 leading finally to her commitment to an asylum in 1919. he was already well-known as a novelist and critic before achieving international recognition as a playwright with Absolutely! (Perhaps) - originally translated as Right You Are! (If You Think You Are) in 1917, The Rules of the Game (1918), Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921), Henry IV (1922), The Man with the Flower in his Mouth (1923), As You Desire Me (1930), Each in His Own Way (1924) and Tonight We Improvise (1929), the last two forming a trilogy with Six Characters. Of his forty-three plays, over half are adaptations from his own short stories written during the most difficult period of his life (1910-1918). He established and directed his own theatre in Rome, the Teatro D'Arte (1925-1928), and in 1934 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Présentation de l'éditeur

Number fifty nine in NHB's Drama Classics Series, providing the world's great drama at a great price.

The introduction to this edition of Six Characters In Search Of An Author includes a short biography of Luigi Pirandello and chronology of his work; a guide to what happens in the play; a short history of the play in performance and its context; and a brief guide to characterisation, language and themes.

Pirandello's play is about the nature of theatre and the problems of theatricality. When six characters, whose author has abandoned them mid-process, turn up at a rehearsal and demand to be played by the actors present an absurd drama ensues in which the characters attempt to resolve their tragedy and become 'real'.

Pirandello's classic of twentieth century theatre is introduced and presented here in a brilliant new translation by Stephen Mulrine.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Dover Publications Inc.
• Date d'édition: 1997
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0486299929
• ISBN 13: 9780486299921
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 52
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Soc. Agr. La Raia Ss; http://www.la-raia.it; ; Strada Monterotondo, 79; Novi Ligure; 15067; Italie