NIRDESHAQ
Director AND WRITER
Director's Note
What intrigued me about Six Characters in Search of an Author has to do with its unique and thought provoking concept—characters coming to life to claim agency over their existence, refusing to be confined to mere fiction. The play explores the tension between these characters, who demand to be treated as real, and a theatre group that sees them as nothing more than two-dimensional figures.
In his play, Pirandello mirrors real human struggles and emotions through the story of a stepdaughter and father, each with their interpretation of events, while the rest of the family adds their own perspectives—all the while being observed by the theatre group, representing society’s tendency to treat “mere stories” with detachment, echoing the way we often view others’ lives from a distance.
While Pirandello’s work already challenges societal norms with themes that remain relevant today, what appealed to me about bringing Aadhe Adhure into the equation can be simply put as: it provided the right complexity to ask important questions regarding the politics of the society that we live in.
What this project does is use the unstable frame of Pirandello’s play to interrogate the dysfunctional relationships of Mohan Rakesh’s text and, in the process, expose the politics of both. The play raises questions about personal and social morality, freedom, and personal identity, while questions of reality and the truth of fiction are also raised.
Ultimately, I hope I have created a bilingual performance that is both comically playful and deeply introspective.
My Approach
I took particular care in handling Pirandello's structure between the characters and the theatre group. The professional theatre company was adapted into an amateur theatre group, as that is more common in the Indian context, and the struggles they face are more relatable for actors, given the lack of repertory systems, funding, and financial stability. The characters interrupt an ongoing amateur rehearsal, which is staged in general lighting, as rehearsals typically occur.
The play stages a collision between the rehearsal space and the arrival of characters from Aadhe Adhure, particularly Savitri and her family, who demand agency over their own narratives. This interruption allows the unstable frame of Pirandello's structure to interrogate the dysfunctional relationships of Mohan Rakesh's text, bringing forward questions of personal and social morality, freedom, and identity, along with the tension between reality and fiction.
There are moments in Pirandello's play where characters such as Madame Pace enter; similarly, in my structure, characters like Juneja and Manoj are introduced through distinct lighting shifts. The shutting down of lights indicates the rehearsal closing, while the characters remain within their own realm, beginning with green light as they go on to relive incidents and continue their search for an author, as in the original play.
The opening is deliberately staged as a light-hearted rehearsal to offset expectations. As the play progresses, the tone shifts from light to serious, incorporating moments that are more stylised and theatrical, such as the appearances of Manoj and Juneja. The performance also makes use of structural meta jokes, often referencing the environment in which it is being performed.
Towards the end, while the original Pirandello text culminates in death and Aadhe Adhure does not, I took the liberty of introducing Kinni's action, drawing from a vague stage direction, allowing her to disrupt the space and intensify the instability of the staged reality. This leads to an unresolved state where the characters remain suspended in their search for meaning and clarity.
The tonal movement of the play moves from light-hearted to serious, into moments of the uncanny, and finally towards a more somber resolution, where Savitri remains unresolved in her complaint, leaving Savitri's complaint unresolved, without offering a clear resolution.
Synopsis
A rehearsal by a collegiate theatre group is interrupted by the arrival of strange people who reveal themselves to be characters from Mohan Rakesh’s landmark play, Aadhe Adhure. Savitri, the leading lady, has come with a complaint—that her playwright did not allow her to speak her mind, and she now wants a director who will help her change that. Her family members appear similarly unhappy with the way their lives have turned out.
As they challenge the situations in which they are placed, issues of personal and social morality are raised along with questions of reality and the truth of fiction.
An adaptation of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author and Mohan Rakesh’s Aadhe Adhure, the play uses the unstable frame of one to interrogate the dysfunctional relationships of the other, and in the process expose the politics of both.
Towards the end, the theatre group crumbles under the weight of an unsettling paradox when Kinni meets with a bad accident, but her family members remain unperturbed because it isn’t part of their ‘play’. Perhaps the truths of reality and fiction remain forever at odds with one another. In the meanwhile, the characters remain suspended in their quest for freedom, within and without their stories.
Performance & Visual Material
Production Stills
Performance Excerpts
Documentation in development
Full Performance
Please note:
English subtitles are currently unavailable and are in progress. When available, enable captions in the video settings. Subtitles provide a basic narrative guide; some nuances of the performance may not be fully captured.
This recording captures the staged action; the full experience extended across the auditorium through spatial and live elements.
A few brief segments may be missing due to technical limitations during recording, including minor audio inconsistencies.
The production allows for variation across performances; certain lines, sequences, and the concluding character were adapted in response to different auditorium conditions and staging contexts.
Awards & Recognition
The production was staged across 11 performances over a span of one year, presented across multiple theatre festivals and platforms.
Media & Features
Presented at the Indian Habitat Collegiate Theatre Festival 2025 (2-day run)
Presented at the Amity Theatre Festival