After a moment of frustration and confusion, the director is told that they are six unfinished characters whose story cannot be told without his intervention.
The Father, Mother, Son, Stepdaughter, Boy, and Child refuse to leave, forcing the director to convince his actors to help them fulfill their wish. Six Characters in Search of an Author, Paperback - Luigi Pirandello Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921) is a metatheatrical drama by Luigi Pirandello. Revised by its author and bolstered by successful performances in New York City, Six Characters in Search of an Author has been recognized as a pioneering examination of the nature of creativity, the relationship of the director and actors to the work of art, and the psychological stress associated with staging a theatrical production. Viewed as an important work of absurdist literature, the play was a critical failure when it was first staged in Rome.