著者

小林 広直

出版者

東洋学園大学

雑誌

東洋学園大学紀要 = Bulletin of Toyo Gakuen University (ISSN:09196110)

巻号頁・発行日

no.27, pp.13-25, 2019-02-28

---

This paper explores the way in which Thomas Kilroy uses Bertolt Brecht's V-effects (Verfremdungseffekt) in his adaptation of Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author (1996) and Double Cross (1986). In a 1984 article, Kilroy describes Brecht, Beckett, and Pirandello as modern dramatists who try to overturn the then dominant theatrical tendency of realism by highly sophisticated stylisation. Both plays discussed here can be seen as examples of Kilroy's application of Brechtian V-effects, which defamiliarises the ordinary rules of the theatre, makes things seem strange and, in the end, enables us to see the world differently. Characters in each play are acutely aware of their roles as fictional characters (in Six Characters) and historical figures (in Double Cross). The self-referential meta-theatricality of both works is heightened by using two theatrical techniques: video screens and addressing the audience. These techniques question the reality of the events happening both on the stage and in history. Through this comparative analysis, we can understand what Kilroy learned from Brecht in order to "create a public theatre," which has been a longstanding cultural issue in Ireland since the foundation of the Abbey Theatre, and to fulfill his early dreams as a writer.