Six Characters in Search of an Author Characters

The hotheaded and authoritarian director of the theater company that rehearses a Pirandello play until the arrival of the six Characters. During this brief initial scene, the Manager foreshadows the rest of the play, insisting… read analysis of The Manager

An overweight, balding, middle-aged man whose “alternatively mellifluous and violent” passions drive the family drama that the Characters present to the Manager and his acting company, their decision to bring it to the theater in… read analysis of The Father

Domineering, emotionally unstable, and larger-than-life, reputedly the child of the Mother and the Clerk, the roughly 18-year-old Step-Daughter helps precipitate the disintegration of the Characters’ family when she has a sexual encounter with the… read analysis of The Step-Daughter

“Crushed and terrified” by the disintegration of her family, the Mother (whose real name is Amalia) is veiled and dressed in black throughout the play. She seldom speaks or looks up, and spends most of… read analysis of The Mother

The fourteen-year-old apparent son of the Mother and the Clerk, who is “timid [and] half-frightened” throughout the play and, like his sister the Child, never talks. The Step-Daughter continually berates the Boy, calling… read analysis of The Boy

A young, four-year old girl named Rosetta, who is supposedly the daughter of the Mother and the Clerk (but could just as easily be the Step-Daughter and Father’s daughter), and who moves into the… read analysis of The Child

The Step-Daughter’s father and the Mother’s ex-lover, who met her while employed in the family’s house decades ago. Learning of his budding relationship with the Mother, the Father fires the Clerk, but this… read analysis of The Clerk

The owner of an atelier—which is ostensibly a fashion house but truly a brothel—who employs the Mother as a dressmaker and the Step-Daughter as a prostitute after the Clerk’s death. In fact, she… read analysis of Madame Pace

Alongside the Leading Lady, the main actor in the the Manager’s production of the fictional Pirandello play “Mixing It Up.” He rehearses his role as the “ridiculous” chef Leo Gala until the six… read analysis of The Leading Man

Besides the Leading Man, the other principal actor in the Manager’s production of the fictional Pirandello play “Mixing It Up.” When the Characters arrive, the Manager decides to have the Leading Lady play… read analysis of The Leading Lady

A stage crewman responsible for reading out stage directions during rehearsals and “prompting” the rehearsing actors with their lines when they forget. After the Manager agrees to turn the Characters’ story into a drama, he… read analysis of The Prompter

One of the stage crew, who (as his name suggests) is responsible for the mechanical aspects of the scenery. The Manager sends him out for “floral decorations,” and he later mistakenly lowers the stage curtain… read analysis of The Machinist

They never appear on stage, but Pirandello includes them with the list of characters at the beginning of the play, even though this would almost never be done in an ordinary work of theater. By… read analysis of The Scene-Shifters