{"product_id":"book-1gs6","title":"Six Characters in Search of an Author \u0026 other plays","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFour plays by the award-winning Italian playwright and innovator Luigi Pirandello\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLuigi Pirandello was an Italian playwright, novelist, and short-story writer and winner of the 1934 Nobel Prize for Literature. In the first performance of \u003ci\u003eSix Characters in Search of an Author\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e,\u003c\/b\u003e an enraged Rome theatre audience yelled abuse at the Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello and chased him out of the theatre. Since then, the play has gained iconic status as a piece of theatre which helped move Western culture into modernity. This stunning, full-cast collection of the playwright's most famous plays performed for radio is not to be missed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSix Characters in Search of an Author - \u003c\/b\u003eLuigi Pirandello's famous 1921 play about the nature of theatre and the problems of theatricality, in which six characters, whose author has abandoned them mid-process, turn up at a rehearsal and demand to be played by the actors present to resolve their tragedy and become 'real'. This contrast between art, which is unchanging, and life, which is in constant flux, is classic Pirandello.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Rules of the Game \u003c\/b\u003e- Set in an Italian town in 1919. Leone and Silia, man and wife, live apart, and Guido is Silia's lover. There is an uncanny lack of jealousy on Leone's part, for he seems a man without any emotional cares whatever - to him it is all a game. However, that doesn't mean it isn't a dangerous game…\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHenry IV\u003c\/b\u003e - A madman is shut up in a villa in Italy following an accident at a carnival. Twenty years later his friends come to visit him. Is he still mad, or is he sane? What is madness? What is sanity? This compelling production explores what lies just underneath the skin of ordinary life, starring \u003cb\u003eMartin Jarvis\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eAndrew Sachs\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFirst Night\u003c\/b\u003e is an adaptation of Pirandello's 1900 short story narrated by \u003cb\u003eMary Wimbush\u003c\/b\u003e (\u003ci\u003ePoldark\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eJeeves and Wooster, The Archers\u003c\/i\u003e). It tells the story of Marastella, a young Sicilian bride who is unhappily married off to a much older man and explores convention, desire and fate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRounding off this curated collection we hear a bonus edition of \u003cb\u003eThe Forum\u003c\/b\u003e, presented by Rajan Datar. On the centenary of the infamous premiere of Pirandello's \u003ci\u003eSix Characters\u003c\/i\u003e, he asks: But what of the author? He was a complex figure who found inspiration from his wife's madness as well as the actors he worked with. Datar is joined by celebrated academics and experts in this enigmatic and culture phenomenon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis star-studded collection is perfect for any fans of Pirandello or anyone wanting to dive deeper into a genre defining era of twentieth century theatre and the man behind it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCast and credits\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten by Luigi Pirandello\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSix Characters in Search of an Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDaughter - Cherie Lunghi\u003cbr\u003eFather - Emerald James\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Rules of the Game \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLeone - Robert Rietty\u003cbr\u003eSilia - Sarah Badel\u003cbr\u003eGuido - Francis Matthews\u003cbr\u003eClara - Wendy Fisher\u003cbr\u003eMarquis Miglioriti - James Goode\u003cbr\u003eFirst drunk - Anthony Morse\u003cbr\u003eSecond drunk - Ken Cumberlidge\u003cbr\u003eThird drunk - Haydn Andrews\u003cbr\u003ePhilip - Brian Hewlett\u003cbr\u003eDr Spiga - Stephen Hattersley\u003cbr\u003eBarelli - Eric Stovell\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHenry IV \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHenry IV - Alec McCowan\u003cbr\u003eTito Belcredi - George Baker\u003cbr\u003eDoctor Genoni - Maurice Denham\u003cbr\u003eMatilda Spina - Pauline Letts\u003cbr\u003eLandolph - Martin Jarvis\u003cbr\u003eOrdulph - Henry Knowles\u003cbr\u003eCharles di Nolli - Sean Arnold\u003cbr\u003eFrida, his fiancee - Janet Chappell\u003cbr\u003eBerthold - David Spenser\u003cbr\u003eHarold - Nigel Lambert\u003cbr\u003eJohn - James Thomason\u003cbr\u003eThe two servants - Harvey Edwards \u0026amp; Andrew Sachs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFirst Night \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNarrator - Mary Wimbush\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Forum\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePresented by Rajan Datar\u003cbr\u003eReadings by Marco Gambino\u003cbr\u003eWith: Guido Bonsaver, Dr Enza de Francisci, Patricia Gaborik\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e©2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin UK","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":67234444083504,"sku":"BD1gs6","price":11.67,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/1gs6-Square-cover.jpg?v=1782932478","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-1gs6","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}