Ouisa and Flan find themselves victims of a strange invasion after offering a young man, who claims to be the son of Sidney Poitier and who appears to have been mugged in Central Park, shelter in their apartment. He tells them he knows their children from Harvard, and so begins an evening that captivates the older wealthy couple, eager to embrace the promise of an intelligent, provocative young person who also happens to stroke their egos and reinforce their sense of good personhood.
Six Degrees of Separation stunningly demonstrates the way each person’s individual vision of the world, limited by our desire to control how we ourselves are seen, leaves us prey to the manipulations and nuances of human design at play all around us.
Winner of the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Play and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, no subject is left untouched in this comic, fast-paced, and affecting piece. The title refers to a statistical theory which states that any two people in the world can be connected through only six other people. The play is an examination of the threads of chance that link one person to another.
Author John Guare
Six Degrees of Separation is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. www.dramatists.com
We welcome back Guest Director Ranae Butler!
RANAE BUTLER (Director) is a theatre educator and Director of Fine Arts for area programs. She knows that the collaborative process of creating theatre with a team of designers, crew, and actors to tell a story about our shared humanity is a personally rewarding endeavor and a profound way to serve the community. A lifelong student of theatre, Ranae holds a BA from PFW and an MFA in Theatre from Brandeis University where she studied under the great teachers, Ted Kazanoff and David Wheeler. Her greatest joy is her family.
Ranae's Notes About Six Degrees of Separation -
Six Degrees of Separation, written by John Guare, was published in 1990 and had a successful Broadway run before being made into a film in 1993. It is an intellectual comedy/drama/mystery with heady themes and hidden treasures for those willing to step inside the world of the play. My intention with these notes is to provide you with a few clues for viewing. But first, a note about the thrust set, a style chosen for its intimacy. There are three areas to familiarize yourself with: 1. The Apartment of Ouisa and Flan Kittredge. 2. "Otherwheres" - the area of the floor that is painted in the style of Kandinski. You will notice that the "Otherwheres" begin to encroach on the apartment as the play proceeds. 3. The Street - these are the aisles directly in front of you which will frequently be inhabited by actors talking directly to you. Please place any belongings under your seat!
Your Questions/Clues for viewing: Over the past 34 years, the following questions ring truer than when the play was written: What happens when a lack of authentic human connection and spiritual emptiness leaves us with a hole inside ourselves? How do we try to fill that hole? Gossip? Sex? Drugs? Experiences? Good causes? Self-delusion? Who in this play is open to authentic human connection? Where are the authentic connections? The missed connections?
A double-sided abstract expressionist painting by Wassily Kandinsky serves as a visual focus on the set as well as a symbol of the themes explored in the text such as chaos/control, two sides to every story, and the imagination. Guare taps into the painter’s abstract expressionist style that “tried to unlock the unconsciousness of humanity”. Kandinsky painted unrecognized shapes which requires the viewer to assign meaning to the abstract. How do the characters in this play assign meaning to the young black man who walks into their homes? Why do they allow him into their homes?
When this stranger delivers a monologue about the imagination, he sets in motion a series of events that alters the future of our characters, "The imagination. It's there to sort out your nightmare, to show you the exit from the maze of your nightmare, to transform the nightmare into dreams, that become your bedrock. If we do not listen to that voice, it dies, it shrivels, it vanishes. The imagination is not our escape. On the contrary, the imagination is the place we are all trying to get to......The imagination. That's God's gift to make the act of self-examination bearable." Who will answer the call for self-examination in this play and where will that lead them? Who are the con artists in this play? Who is hustling and for what?
The play is also an exploration of race. Originally cast with only one person of color, I have increased that number to include characters in positions of authority, characters as witnesses to concerns of race, and characters of color in positions of low and high status.
The actors in the play, and Assistant Director, Cortney White, have been instrumental in discussions and discoveries around this theme. I owe a debt of gratitude for their insights and lived experiences. Since this is a play demanding self-examination, what are your thoughts about how race impacts the decisions made in this story?
Hopefully these questions give you a head start in exploring the many puzzles this play has to offer. Untangling the mysteries has been an important part of our artistic process and I couldn’t have hoped to do it with a better team.
