Six Characters in Search of an Author is yet another performance by director Oliver Frljić at BITEF 17SEP Atelje 212 Theatre – Mira Trailović Stage) in which he mercilessly attacks the Croatian right wing in his own unique way. Although at first seemingly unusual, since it is not based on documentary material but on the famous work by Luigi Pirandello – the topic of which is not political but philosophical – Frljić strikes a blow right from the start.

 

The actors are not preparing another Pirandello’s play but an imaginary, improvised, satirical play, typical of Kerempuh Satirical Theatre, whose characters are true protagonists of Croatian right wing – Hasanbegović, Željka Markić, Tompson, etc. After this fierce, hilarious, and comically full-blooded introduction, Frljić makes a stronger link to Pirandello’s story. From the first appearance of these characters, the audience follows the original narration, though occasionally more or less dramaturgically altered. In that main part of the performance, however, the director does make an intelligent link to the expansion of the right wing, which is the main concept of the performance. While imploring the actors to play their drama, the characters keep referring to “family values”, since all of them belong to a somewhat bizarre family. It is exactly this bizarre aspect of those relationships – violence, incest, soliciting of children for prostitution – that represents the inside of the conservative outcry “in the name of family values”. It This exclamation thus represents in theatre what it often is in reality: an expression of hypocrisy and moral double standards.