The use of dialect in Six Characters in Search of an Author calls into question the importance of language in theater. In Act 2, the Manager expresses alarm at Madame Pace's accent:
THE MANAGER (alarmed). What? What? She talks like that? (THE ACTORS burst out laughing again.)
THE STEP-DAUGHTER (also laughing). Yes yes, that’s the way she talks, half English, half Italian! Most comical it is!
MADAME PACE. Itta seem not verra polite gentlemen laugha atta me eef I trya best speaka English.
THE MANAGER. Diamine! Of course! Of course! Let her talk like that! Just what we want. Talk just like that, Madam, if you please! The effect will be certain. Exactly what was wanted to put a little comic relief into the crudity of the situation.
At first, Madame Pace refuses to raise her voice as she whispers with the Step-Daughter. When she finally speaks, the other characters laugh at Madame Pace, ridiculing her "most comical" language. She tries to defend herself but only deepens their hilarity; her words continue to resemble English ones with Italian suffixes: "Itta," "verra," "speaka," etc. Note that her language is not the only reason for their ridicule—she also owns a brothel and walks with a "comical elegance"—so her speech merely magnifies her already-comical persona and codes her as a less-educated character.
The careful reader will also note that, according to the stage directions, "Madame Pace is supposed to talk in a jargon half Italian, half Spanish." This disparity between dialogue and stage direction creates further confusion in the story and calls into question the verity of any actor's representation. From the author's mind to the director's choices to the actors' representations, how much of any play can be correctly conveyed on the stage? The issues of language and dialect play into these questions about the creation of certain realities onstage and suggest the opportunities for ideas to get lost in translation. Madame Pace's comical character and strange dialect suggest some serious themes of meaning, significance, and the relative effectiveness of human communication.
