James Wilson takes a look at Six Characters at Lincoln Center:
Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author caused a cultural firestorm when it opened in Rome in 1921. Reportedly, after the show's premiere the playwright had to leave through a backstage door to avoid protestors. A precursor to the Theatre of the Absurd movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the play upends notions of reality and fiction while skewering the conventions of theatrical production and performance. In a nod to Pirandello, Phillip Howze's new play Six Characters applies metatheatrical and Absurdist elements to grapple with the abuses of power, racism, and the inherent white supremacy undergirding Western arts and literature. American theatre, the play suggests, is a crucible for the divisive issues plaguing the nation. |
