In theater, there is an expectation of a form of order and structure
imposed by author, director, stage directions and scripted dialogue and
actions. The order applies rigidly to the performance (known to be illusion and
performance) taking place on the stage, behind the separating and framing
proscenium arch; it is known that theatrical order does not transfer to
life-order except as a symbol or
metaphor of life and human experience.
In life, there is an expectation of a form of order and structure imposed
by a god (expected by many), by sociocultural norm or rule (you follow the
norms of the middle class; you obey the rule of the U.S. Congress; you obey the
rule of the Sunni government, etc) or by personal will or volition (you believe
you have the power to affect order in your circumstances, surroundings, future
and happiness). The expected order and structure applies fluidly to
individuals, families, communities, countries and global sectors. This order
and structure is so fluid that there is debate as to whether these are reality
or illusion: Do I really have the power? Does my religion or government really
have the authority? Does my socioeconomic class really have the wisdom? Symbol
and metaphor are often used by teachers, speakers, poets, playwrights,
novelists, philosophers and others to explore and describe the question of
reality versus illusion in life's definitions of order and its closely related
counterpart, structure.
In Six Characters, Pirandello removes the theatrical form of
order and structure (structure as seen in life in governments, religion,
culture and social-economic status) from the outset of the play by having the
curtain--indicating (and part of) the separation achieved by the proscenium
arch--lifted and by revealing the stage as it would be seen by production
participants and from the audience during a rehearsal in preparation for a
not-yet-existent performance. In an ironic existential twist, Pirandello both
resolves and disrupts the need for order and structure in life by, first,
acknowledging such need exists and by, second, challenging that it is an
element derived from reality.
In the conclusion of the play, when the Mother character reacts with
terror at the sound of a gun shot, a debate ensues in the form of intermingled
cries of "he's dead!" "It's all make-believe." "It's real! ... He's dead!"
"He's pretending!" "it's reality!" Pirandello is using the shattered proscenium
arch to shatter the illusion that reality versus illusion can be known and
separated from each other. He is confirming, or resolving, that the need for
order and structure exists (through the disoriented feelings and reactions of
characters and audience) while shattering, or disrupting, the belief that order
and structure are anything more than illusion: illusion is the proscenium arch
of life that separates us from the existential truth of the non-existence of
reality and in front of which we daily suspend our disbelief and absorb the
order and structure of reality and identity as though they were the truth of
existence.