Brisbane review: Six Characters in Search of an Author excites

By Lilian Harrington

Production: Six Characters in Search of an Author

Writer:            Luigi Pirandello

Company:      Ad Astra

Director:         Jonty Hansen,

Asst Director: Colin W. Smith  

Location:        Ad Astra Galaxy Theatre, 210 Petrie Tce. Brisbane

Season:           May 15 – June 6 Thurs, Fri 8 pm and Sat. 2 pm & 7 30pm

Bookings:       Try Booking

Ad Astra has opened Luigi Pirandello’s absurdist play written in 1921 “Six Characters in Search of an Author”. Director, Jonty Hansen, has set this meta -theatrical in the Ad Astra, Galaxy Theatre, where an ensemble of Ad Astra actors is rehearsing for an up-coming production, when a group of six characters appear, who state that they have come from an unfinished play and they demand the director, or someone finish it telling their story, before they can move on.

Nothing like this had ever occurred before in play writing and Pirandello’s work caused a mixed reaction in Italy and parts of Europe, but after it had been performed in France, and other countries, it became an award-winning event; this 105-year-old play is still staged today because it makes a relevant statement on the state of things in our world and younger audiences can take a more modern approach. It beggars the question “What happens to those characters that writers create and their stories are never finished being written about?”

Actor Gregory Wilken commands attention as he plays the role of The Father and his step -daughter, Emma Kidd, demands focus as she wants her story to be told and the dark scandal that lies between her and the step-father revealed. The Director Jonty Hansen slowly begins to listen to their requests as an argument develops between the traditional, conservative father and the director. There lies the question between reality and illusion and how it is to be incorporated into the performance.

The other characters include: The Son, who holds some angry memories and wants to remain aloof from his father and mother; The Mother, who has suffered and has been pushed out by The Father to have an affair with another, who she has born two children with, The Girl and The Child. The Ensemble watch on with mixed reactions, as they take in the scene before them, bursting into song or dance occasionally and interacting with them at times. 

Emma Kidd, was a stand- out, bouncing between being a slightly unhinged giggly, step-daughter, who helps build the tension between herself and her grounded step -father, with her serious emotional need to reveal a dark truth between herself and the father, through story telling in the play   before she can move forward. The father had propositioned her earlier before he realized that she was his step- daughter; it had changed the relationship between them. This is core idea had haunting and chilling overtones, where realism and make- belief collide, and the young woman goes from being sweet and welcoming, to one who looks for revenge. Her emotional outbursts contrast with The Father who appears steady and well- balanced at every stage. The comic relief in the production comes from the Ensemble and their antics, from the stage manager to Ebony, the stage dog, and it brings a lighthearted and modern approach.

The staging is modern and technically adept and the onstage piano is played as an accompaniment in the background by Tommi Civili and The Son, acclaimed musician Davis Dingle. 

Pirandello’s play is mind blowing. The wit and humor in the script was not lost on the audience. The unforeseen twists brought challenges along with a somewhat unexpected climax. Ad Astra’s newest production certainly excites.