Yes, I know this is "great literature of the absurd", but I have to confess almost utter boredom. Both the story and the "fantasy as truth" format left me cold. There are some good performances and some really hammy over-the-top ones as well, which I won't identify, as they may have been faulty direction. There are some intriguing scenes, especially the "movie set" manipulations. I suppose the BBC Scotland did the best they could with the material at hand, which most would agree is not for all tastes. Originally, Pirandello's play was done on a stage set, but the change to a movie set works very well. The "plight" of the six characters is well understood. No doubt one could consider that the "author" deserted them because he realised he was writing the most unutterable melodramatic trash. I won't trouble you with a summary of it.
2 Reviews
Better than you think
STDTNM1120 April 2005
Brilliant, simply brilliant. I can't imagine this performance being done any other way if not on a stage. Perhaps you have to be a fan of this sort of work, but I think it's brilliant. I was enraptured from beginning to end. It's too bad this work is so difficult to find. That's probably the only thing it has going against it. Acting is superb, writing is fabulous, and while, yes, there is a little over-acting, I think it's necessary. And, yes, the "Characters"' story does seem a little melodramatic, but the genius of the play doesn't reside there, but in the manner it's presented, and the interaction between all the characters. If you focus too much on the facts of the story, you miss the true beauty of the piece. It may seem a little heavy-handed, but this performance got me back into theater again.
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