Six Characters in Search of an Author Luigi Pirandello (classic novels for teens txt) đ
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of the reach of that convention which he has to maintain for other people. And what about my case? Havenât I had to reveal what no son ought ever to reveal: how father and mother live and are man and wife for themselves quite apart from that idea of father and mother which we give them? When this idea is revealed, our life is then linked at one point only to that man and that woman; and as such it should shame them, shouldnât it?
The Mother hides her face in her hands. From the dressing-rooms and the little door at the back of the stage the Actors and Stage Manager return, followed by the Property Man, and the Prompter. At the same moment, The Manager comes out of his office, accompanied by The Father and The Step-Daughter.
The Manager
Come on, come on, ladies and gentlemen! Heh! you there, machinist!
Machinist
Yes sir?
The Manager
Fix up the white parlor with the floral decorations. Two wings and a drop with a door will do. Hurry up!
The Machinist runs off at once to prepare the scene, and arranges it while The Manager talks with the Stage Manager, the Property Man, and the Prompter on matters of detail.
The Manager
To Property Man. Just have a look, and see if there isnât a sofa or divan in the wardrobe.â ââ âŠ
Property Man
Thereâs the green one.
The Step-Daughter
No no! Green wonât do. It was yellow, ornamented with flowersâ âvery large! and most comfortable!
Property Man
There isnât one like that.
The Manager
It doesnât matter. Use the one weâve got.
The Step-Daughter
Doesnât matter? Itâs most important!
The Manager
Weâre only trying it now. Please donât interfere. To Property Man. See if weâve got a shop windowâ âlong and narrowish.
The Step-Daughter
And the little table! The little mahogany table for the pale blue envelope!
Property Man
To The Manager. Thereâs that little gilt one.
The Manager
Thatâll do fine.
The Father
A mirror.
The Step-Daughter
And the screen! We must have a screen. Otherwise how can I manage?
Property Man
Thatâs all right, Miss. Weâve got any amount of them.
The Manager
To The Step-Daughter. We want some clothes pegs too, donât we?
The Step-Daughter
Yes, several, several!
The Manager
See how many weâve got and bring them all.
Property Man
All right!
The Property Man hurries off to obey his orders. While he is putting the things in their places, The Manager talks to the Prompter and then with the Characters and the Actors.
The Manager
To Prompter. Take your seat. Look here: this is the outline of the scenes, act by act. Hands him some sheets of paper. And now Iâm going to ask you to do something out of the ordinary.
Prompter
Take it down in shorthand?
The Manager
Pleasantly surprised. Exactly! Can you do shorthand?
Prompter
Yes, a little.
The Manager
Good! Turning to a Stage Hand. Go and get some paper from my office, plenty, as much as you can find.
The Stage Hand goes off, and soon returns with a handful of paper which he gives to the Prompter.
The Manager
To Prompter. You follow the scenes as we play them, and try and get the points down, at any rate the most important ones. Then addressing the Actors. Clear the stage, ladies and gentlemen! Come over here Pointing to the Left. and listen attentively.
Leading Lady
But, excuse me, we.â ââ âŠ
The Manager
Guessing her thought. Donât worry! You wonât have to improvise.
Leading Man
What have we to do then?
The Manager
Nothing. For the moment you just watch and listen. Everybody will get his part written out afterwards. At present weâre going to try the thing as best we can. Theyâre going to act now.
The Father
As if fallen from the clouds into the confusion of the stage. We? What do you mean, if you please, by a rehearsal?
The Manager
A rehearsal for them. Points to the Actors.
The Father
But since we are the characters.â ââ âŠ
The Manager
All right: âcharactersâ then, if you insist on calling yourselves such. But here, my dear sir, the characters donât act. Here the actors do the acting. The characters are there, in the âbookâ Pointing towards Prompterâs box.â âwhen there is a âbookâ!
The Father
I wonât contradict you; but excuse me, the actors arenât the characters. They want to be, they pretend to be, donât they? Now if these gentlemen here are fortunate enough to have us alive before them.â ââ âŠ
The Manager
Oh this is grand! You want to come before the public yourselves then?
The Father
As we are.â ââ âŠ
The Manager
I can assure you it would be a magnificent spectacle!
Leading Man
Whatâs the use of us here anyway then?
The Manager
Youâre not going to pretend that you can act? It makes me laugh! The Actors laugh. There, you see, they are laughing at the notion. But, by the way, I must cast the parts. That wonât be difficult. They cast themselves. To the Second Lady Lead. You play the Mother. To The Father. We must find her a name.
The Father
Amalia, sir.
The Manager
But that is the real name of your wife. We donât want to call her by her real name.
The Father
Why ever not, if it is her name? Still, perhaps, if that lady must.â ââ ⊠Makes a slight motion of the hand to indicate the Second Lady Lead. I see this woman here Means The Mother. as Amalia. But do as you like. Gets more and more confused. I donât know what to say to you. Already, I begin to hear my own words ring false, as if they had another sound.â ââ âŠ
The Manager
Donât you worry about it. Itâll be our job to find the right tones. And as for her name, if you want her Amalia, Amalia it shall be; and
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