Correction appended
Claire Tietze is excitedly anxious about her first directorial experience “Six Characters in Search of an Author” with AU Players, which premieres on Oct. 3 in Kreeger auditorium.
“I just heard about it and the title sounded interesting so I wrote it down and then I looked it up when I was trying to come up with a play to propose to direct,” Tietze, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences said.
Written by Luigi Pirandello in 1921, “Six Characters in Search of an Author” tells the story of a beleaguered theater director working on a new play when six anonymous actors come walking in from the street. They take the stage, regaling the theater director about their anguished existence without an author to tell their story.
“The most challenging thing about it isn’t the robustness or how much there is in the text. I think the most difficult thing is having so many people, but it’s worked out really well.” Tietze said.
Tietze found that her first experience directing was a growing process while working on “Six Characters.”
“It’s definitely a learning experience, but I’ve stage managed for AU Players before so I’ve been involved a little bit in the process of director,” Tietze said. “I can feel myself growing directing them and they’ve been growing while we’ve been going through this process together.”
Since “Six Characters in Search of an Author” is an absurdist play that deals with existential themes, Tietze found that addressing the aspect of breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging the audience during the show was enticing when crafting her first AU Players show.
“I love the meta theatre… so we have the actors physically come into the audience and actually break the fourth wall that is created by the stage,” Tietze said.
“Six Characters in Search of an Author” treats the theatre as a temporal space where both reality and fiction collide, but for Tietze this is a challenge she’s willing to accept.
“Six Characters in Search of an Author” plays Oct. 3-6 in the Kreeger auditorium at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5. (http://www.eventbrite.com/event/8353606863/eorg)
dkahen-kashi@theeagleonline.com
Correction: The photo caption previously misidentified the actor in the center, but it has been corrected.
