The "Six Characters" of Giuseppe Fava's Delirio (1980)

Care lettrici & Cari lettori, we are thrilled to present you with Volume 36 of PSA - The Journal oh the Pirandello Society of America. This year's issue features a striking cover image of a scene from A Green Vein of Madness, a theatrical adaptation of Alessio Arena's acclaimed 2020 book, "La vena verde". Similarly engaging with Pirandello's legacy, Pierlorenzo Randazzo's "The Six Characters of Giuseppe Fava's Delirio (1980)" offers a detailed comparative analysis of Fava's play "Delirio" and Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author" (1921). Randazzo explores how Fava reimagines Pirandello's work in a farcical light, employing this reinterpretation to highlight Pirandello's metatheatrical techniques, which serve as a metaphor for the crisis of human identity. While both plays address themes of lost identity, Delirio sets itself apart by depicting its characters as concrete, earthly beings, as opposed to the more abstract and conceptual characters found in Pirandello's original work.