'Six Characters' review — Phillip Howze’s form-breaking play challenges expectations
Read our review of Six Characters off Broadway, a new play written by Phillip Howze and directed by Dustin Wills at Lincoln Center Theater's Claire Tow Theater.
Six Characters begins with a director (Julian Robertson) fumbling on a dark stage in search of the light switch. Aided by a ghostlight, the director successfully turns on the rehearsal rig. Then, using a ladder that’s too short, the director struggles to bring down the curtain. At my performance, audience members yelled, “You can do it!” and “We believe in you!” But the comedic tone shifts, and the fourth wall remains open.
Phillip Howze’s new play, a riff on Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, grapples with questions of identity, reality, and the meaning of art. The six characters here include the director, a Lincoln Center maintenance worker (Seret Scott), a student (CG), a theatregoer (Claudia Logan), the theatregoer’s ex-lover (Will Cobbs), and an escaped slave (Seven F.B. Duncombe).
The performers take on the role of abolitionists to “abolish the characters.” Beyond breaking narrative and character conventions, Six Characters aims to challenge how theatrical works are developed and produced. The on-stage director’s manifesto to the American theatre calls on institutions to support and showcase Black artists.
The first act is overwhelmed by too many abstract ideas, and there is no framework for the six characters who get lost in the act of play, trying on military tailcoats and Shakespearean ruffs, and wielding prop knives. Act Two features the strongest scene between the escaped slave (Duncombe) and the student (CG), who contemplate existential philosophy, the constitution of marriage, and social identity over a heightened game of gin rummy while inside a giant wooden box.
Six Characters is in search of a defining story arc, and under Dustin Will’s direction, the two-act play drags. In one scene, the on-stage director banishes the performers from reading Aristotle and goes so far as to burn books outlining the Greek philosopher’s theories. Aristotle touted the importance of structure and clarity in a dramatic work. Six Characters would benefit from Aristotle's principles.
Six Characters summary
Six Characters, by Phillip Howze, is a world-premiere play about six citizens who find themselves at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The metatheatrical two-act play, inspired by Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, explores themes of power, identity, the purpose of theatre, and the institutions that support the art form.
What to expect at Six Characters
When audiences enter the 112-seat Claire Tow Theater for Six Characters, the ushers will ask the divisive question: “Do you want to be a participant?” Those who answer affirmatively get a yellow wristband. At the performance I attended, a tourist eagerly embraced the opportunity, cheering, “We’re in New York! It’s live theatre!” That theatregoer was likely disappointed to discover the participation functioned more as a theatrical device than a call to action. The yellow wristbands build anticipatory excitement, though, and lead to a surprising bit that blurs the lines between spectators and performers.
The play is 2 hours and 10 minutes long, including one intermission. Audiences can enjoy concessions on the Claire Tow Theatre’s outdoor balcony overlooking the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex.
What audiences are saying about Six Characters
At the time of publication, Six Characters had a 49% audience rating on Show-Score, with reviews highlighting the play’s slow pace, confusing plot, and length.
- “See it if you have the patience for theatre that defies expectations and conventions in a very self-aware way that could get both tedious and annoying.” - Show-Score user GreatAvi
- “Hard to follow—makes no sense and ends abruptly (but not soon enough).” - Show-Score user StandardBearer
- “Don't see it if you want to experience something engaging. Totally confused. What did I just see?” - Show-Score user theatretheatmatters
Read more audience reviews of Six Characters on Show-Score.
Who should see Six Characters
- Fans of avant-garde works will enjoy Six Characters, which breaks away from the conventional structure of theatre and blurs the lines between the audience and performers.
- Theatregoers who enjoyed Phillip Howze’s other New York productions, including Frontières Sans Frontières and Self Portraits, will appreciate Six Characters.
- Those familiar with Luigi Pirandello’s seminal 20th-century play Six Characters in Search of an Author will appreciate this new work.
Learn more about Six Characters
Six Characters is a dark comedy that subverts expectations and challenges the purpose of theatre. Its non-linear structure and complex themes are difficult to follow, and the play’s length drags, leaving audiences to wonder about its meaning and significance.
Photo credit: Six Characters off Broadway. (Photos by Marc J. Franklin)
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