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Six Characters in Search of an Author
Around the World in 80 Plays

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Don't miss Six Characters in Search of an Author

Six Characters in Search of an Author. Luigi Pirandello. Adapted by Edward Storer. Dramaturgical adaptation on translation by Daniele Bartolini and Luke Reece in collaboration with the cast.

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The curtain rises on stories left unfinished. During a routine rehearsal, six strangers show up unannounced declaring themselves fictional characters who would like a word with their author. Finding humour in the absurd, their family drama unfolds in a conflict between illusion and reality. Pirandello’s metatheatrical masterpiece navigates the human search for meaning and the personal desire for control. Read the Playbill

Explore the 9 other plays from italy to round out your Around the World in 80 Plays experience

Tickets are Pay-What-You-Choose, and audiences enjoy unlimited access to the audio drama from the premiere date until April 20, 2022. You will receive an email with a link to log into your account and listen to an embedded audio file through your computer or device.

Purchase a Passport Subscription and enjoy all eight productions! Around the World Passport


CBC IDEAS - ITALY in-depth Podcast

IDEAS is a deep-dive into contemporary thought and intellectual history. Using Six Characters in Search of an Author as a launching-off point, host Nahlah Ayed sits down with artists to discuss the cultural context to understand this Italian drama, and what it might have to say to our contemporary Canadian context. FREE

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EXTEND YOUR STAY

Pirandello and “Six Characters in Search of an Author” – 100 Years After – Conversation for Italian Heritage Month with Villa Charities

On June 1, Director Daniele Bartolini, and Associate Artistic Director Luke Reece will discuss Pirandello and our production of his metatheatrical masterpiece “Six Characters in Search of an Author” with Montreal-based playwright and performer, Michaela Di Cesare, author of In Search of Mrs. Pirandello”. 

Tuesday, June 1 at 7:00 – 8:00pm

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THE SIT DOWN - interview with Daniele Bartolini

Director of Six Characters in Search of an Author, Daniele Bartolini, sits down with Weyni Mengesha to discuss how this play was a revelation for Daniele and how it influenced his career, and how he brought this 100 year old play into our contemporary world. 

A special message

A special message from the Instituto Italiano di Cultura Toronto, inviting you to enjoy Six Characters In Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, and to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of this masterpiece!


Restaurant Recommendations from Toronto LiFE

Giulietta is a sleek trattoria on College St W serving wood-fired pizza, house-made pasta & veg- & seafood-forward sharing plates.

Order take-out from this or other local restaurants to enjoy while you listen to the production.

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Spotlight from TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF AUTHORS - Donatella Di Pietrantonio

Keeping in touch, both figuratively and physically, is a challenge during times of isolation; while physical touch – and what we touch – is now a source of fear and anxiety for many. The Dutch phrase “skin hunger” has come to prominence in recent months, encapsulating these feelings.

For the 2020 Festival, TIFA presented Skin Hunger: a new writing commission featuring original works by internationally renowned writers, in reflection on what we’ve all felt and suffered during the COVID-19 crisis. Featured here is Donatella Di Pietrantonio, reading her Skin Hunger piece, in Italian.

More Book Recommendations from TIFA


SPOTLIGHT FROM SMALL WORLD MUSICTEMPOConnect - Sun sun

Sun Sun's explosive creativity and passion through her music and fashion are testimony to the evolution of ItalianCanadian 2.0. This is the very best of how tradition meets innovation to create a bold disruption that is inspiring. 

Francesca Nocera aka Sun Sun is a Toronto/Caledon based DJ, producer, member of rap-electro, dub hop group Above Top Secret and Witch Prophet, as well as the Co-Founder of Toronto based collective 88 Days Of Fortune/Heart Lake Records. Her band has opened for and shared the stage with amazing acts like Shabazz Palaces, A Tribe Called Red, Lido Pimienta, JPEG MAFIA and many more. Witch Prophet’s album DNA Activation was shortlisted for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize. She is currently working on her next album due spring/summer 2022.

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ART Attention FROM the ago

Paola Poletto, Director of Engagement & Learning at the Art Gallery of Ontario shares an piece of Italian art from their collection. 

Grey Pedestal, Centered (1962-1979) by Michelangelo Pistoletto. 

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Explore Arts and Culture

The Grand Tour of Italy
Venice, Siena, Rome & Palermo
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The Sistine Chapel
Vatican City
Read More Visit
Enzo Ferrari Museum
Modena
Read More Visit
Uffizi Gallery
Florence
Read More Visit
Emergence
Giardini Naxos
Read More Visit
The Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Arts
Torino
Read More Visit

The Theatrical Canon - Italy

9 OTHER PLAYS CURATED BY SOULPEPPER ARTISTS AND LOCAL SCHOLARS TO READ AND ENJOY! INQUIRE ABOUT THESE TITLES AT YOUR LOCAL INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOP OR LIBRARY.

Il servitore di due pardoni (The Servant of Two Masters)
By Carlo Goldoni
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The Origin of the World, Interior Conversation Piece
By Lucia Calamaro
Read More More
Noccioline (Peanuts)
By Fausto Paravidino
Read More More
All Home, Bed and Church
By Franca Rame
Read More More
Zorro
By Margaret Mazzantini
More
Novecento (2003)
By Alessandro Baricco
Read More More
Mpalermu
By Emma Dante
Read More More
Tomba di cani
By Letizia Russo
Read More More
The Advertisement (1968)
By Natalia Ginzburg
Read More More

 

Soulpepper’s Around The World In 80 Plays series has become essential for theatre lovers. Imagine a mini international theatre festival for the ears, intellect and soul.

- NOW Magazine

Precisely one hundred years ago, in a theatre in Rome - Teatro Valle - a theatrical event occurred, remembered as probably one of biggest flops of all time, after which theatre will never be the same: the world premiere of “Six Characters in Search of an Author” by Luigi Pirandello. After one hundred years I decided to look at this play not for historical commemoration but as a reminder for theatre not to be “a cup of camomile tea” and that authentic innovation is not always saluted with hurrahs and standing ovations. It is a masterpiece of theatrical engineering, creating an endless spiral in the eternaltenzone (duel) between reality and fiction, authenticity and artifice. With a thick theatrical instinct, Mr. Pirandello offers us a great canvas in which we can display an exchange about theatre in Canada in 2021.

- Daniele Bartolini, Director

All around the world and throughout history, humans have acted out the stories that are significant to them, the stories that are central to their sense of who they are, the stories that have defined their communities, and shaped their societies. When we talk about classical theatre we want to explore what that means from the many perspectives of this city. This is a celebration of our global canon.

- Weyni Mengesha, Soulpepper Artistic Director


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