Six Characters in Search of an Author

Act One

In a darkened theatre rehearsal hall, a Property Man and Prompter (Stage Manager) enter and begin to make preparations for a rehearsal. They are shortly joined by several Actors, and then the Manager (Director), who calls a start to the rehearsal. The rehearsal finally begins, and we learn that the company is preparing for a presentation of another of Pirandello’s plays, Mixing It Up (sometimes translated as The Rules of the Game). In the scene they are about to rehearse, the script calls for the Leading Man to wear a chef’s hat. When the Leading Man complains that he feels stupid wearing the hat, the Manager chastises him and launches into a rant about the state of theatre and the job of actors.

Just as they are about to begin the scene, the company is interrupted by the arrival of a family of six Characters: Father, Mother, Step-Daughter, Son, Boy, and Child. The Manager and Prompter attempt to remove the family, but the Father says that they are characters in search of an