Photo Flash: First Look at Jennifer Jewell's RAISON D'ETRE: AN EVENING OF PIRANDELLO

Jennifer Jewell's "Raison d'être: an Evening of Pirandello," adapted from selected works by Nobel Prize Laureate for Literature and Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and writer Luigi Pirandello runs through September 29th. Performances take place at Theatre 71 at Blessed Sacrament from September 20-23 (September 20th Opening Night) and 25-29, 2018 at 7:00pm. For tickets, visit: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3597340

"Raison d'être: an Evening of Pirandello," explores the complexity and depth of Pirandello's work by taking his seminal play, "Six Characters in Search of an Author" and infusing it with characters and themes from two of his notable one-act plays, "Chee Chee" and "The Man with the Flower In His Mouth."

In "Raison d'être: an Evening of Pirandello," the play features original translations from Roberto Di Donato and Giovanni Villari and is adapted by Director Patrick Mulryan. This modern interpretation of the classic, weaves together three works that showcase Pirandello's markedly unique style and his examination of the various personas that people choose to wear or that society forces upon them.

"Six Characters in Search of an Author" is play about a play. Drama is teased out through conflict between actors, the director, the six characters, and the missing author. Beginning with a supposed daytime rehearsal of the short one-act Pirandello plays "Chee Chee" and "The Man with the Flower in his Mouth," the actors and director are interrupted and overtaken by an unruly family. The family insists that the actors and director help tell their exceptional and unusual true story about a stepdaughter who has become a prostitute and the stepfather who has mistakenly purchased her. It is a tale that ends in bitter tragedy. "Six Characters in Search of an Author" puts the theater and its processes on stage, taking apart a play's inner workings and making them visible to the spectator.

The company of "Raison d'être: an Evening of Pirandello" includes: Mickey Abbate (as Chee-Chee), Lucie Allouche (as Stepdaughter), Nora Armani (as Mother), Carleigh Chirico (as Girl), Jennifer Jewell (as The Man with a Flower in His Mouth), David Klein (as Son), Alex Might (as Boy), Rachel Lauren James (as Nada), Brian Linden (as Father), Ed Malone (as Stage Manager), Melissa Eddy Quilty (as Madame Pace), R David Robinson (as Producer), Robert Charles Russell (as Commuter) Giovanni Villari (as Commander Squatriglia)

Photo Credit: Daniel Rader