USD Theatre Presents Six Characters in Search of an Author
Joe Stollenwerk, assistant professor and director, selected Robert Brustein’s 1996 adaptation of Pirandello’s play because it brought a nearly century-old Italian play into a more contemporary American setting.
"Brustein encourages theatre companies to make the text of the play more specific to their actors, production staff and audiences,” Stollenwerk said.
This production is set during the rehearsal of USD’s recent production of "Jesus Christ Superstar." As the company begins rehearsing, they are interrupted by six fictional characters from an unfinished play, looking for an author to complete their story. The experiences and moral universe of the fictional characters of the 1950s collides with the here-and-now of the USD theatre students. Stollenwerk praised the design and production team “for creating two distinct worlds, one in the present and ‘reality,’ and the other a fictional world from the past.”
"Six Characters in Search of an Author" performs Feb. 16-18 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. in the Wayne S. Knutson Theatre. Tickets can be purchased in the afternoons from 12-5 p.m. starting Feb. 9 at the USD Theatre Box Office or by calling (605) 677-5400; tickets can also be purchased on the Department of Theatre's website.
