Six Degrees of Separation (play)

Six Degrees of Separation
Original poster by James McMullan
Written by	John Guare
Date premiered	1990
Place premiered	Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater New York City
Original language	English
Genre	Drama
Setting	New York City

Six Degrees of Separation is a play written by American playwright John Guare that premiered in 1990. The play was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. ^[1]

The play explores the existential premise that everyone in the world is connected to everyone else in the world by a chain of no more than six acquaintances, thus, "six degrees of separation".

It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1993.

Synopsis

A young black man named Paul shows up at the home of art dealer Flan Kittredge and his wife Louisa, known simply as "Ouisa", who live overlooking Central Park in New York City. Paul has a minor stab wound from an attempted mugging, and says he's a friend of their children at Harvard University. The Kittredges are trying to get the money to buy a painting by Paul Cézanne ^{[2] [3]} and now have this wounded stranger in their home. Paul claims he is in New York to meet his father, Sidney Poitier, who is directing a film version of the Broadway musical Cats. Paul continues to charm them with his story, though in reality, it is all a lie: Paul is no Harvard student and obtained details on the Kittredges from a male student he had seduced. Eventually Paul uses their home for an encounter with a hustler, but is caught red-handed. The police are called, but Paul escapes.

Soon after, Paul starts up another con against a sensitive young man named Rick and his live-in girlfriend, Elizabeth. The naive young couple are new to the big city having just moved to New York from Utah and, based on Paul's con, invite him to live with them until he gets everything sorted out with his wealthy father—who Paul tells them is Flan Kittredge. The trio become good friends, with Paul spinning a tale of being estranged from his racist father; the girlfriend tells Rick not to lend Paul any money. One night Paul takes Rick out on the town, and seduces him in order to get the money. Later that night, Rick tells Elizabeth that Paul is gone, that he has all their money, and that he and Paul had sex. In a fit of fury, she cruelly suggests that Rick's father had always questioned his son's sexuality. Soon afterwards Rick commits suicide.

In desperation, Paul calls the Kittredges for assistance. Partly due to strained relations with her children, Ouisa finds herself feeling emotionally attached to Paul, hoping to be able to help him in some way despite the fact that he has victimized them. Over a protracted and laborious phone call, he agrees to give himself up to the police; however, during the arrest, he and the couple are separated. Despite their efforts—Ouisa's more than Flan's—his fate is unresolved, except for a possibly tragic end. Towards the end of the play, in a climactic moment of reflection, she delivers the play's most famous monologue:

I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation. Between us and everybody else on this planet. The president of the United States. A gondolier in Venice. Fill in the names. I find that A) tremendously comforting that we're so close and B) like Chinese water torture that we're so close. Because you have to find the right six people to make the connection. It's not just big names. It's anyone. A native in a rain forest. A Tierra del Fuegan. An Eskimo. I am bound to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people. It's a profound thought. How Paul found us. How to find the man whose son he pretends to be. Or perhaps is his son, although I doubt it. How every person is a new door, opening up into other worlds. Six degrees of separation between me and everyone else on this planet. But to find the right six people.

Historical casting

Character	1990 Off-Broadway cast	1990 Broadway cast	1992 West End cast	1993 Film cast	1st National Tour cast	2017 Broadway revival cast
Ouisa Kittredge	Stockard Channing				Marlo Thomas	Allison Janney
Flan Kittredge	John Cunningham		Paul Shelley	Donald Sutherland	John Cunningham	John Benjamin Hickey
Paul	James McDaniel	Courtney B. Vance	Adrian Lester	Will Smith	Ntare Mwine	Corey Hawkins

Kristin Griffith and Swoosie Kurtz read the role of Ouisa Kittredge in workshops in 1989 before Stockard Channing was cast. Channing was originally unavailable and was committed to coming to Broadway in another play, Neil Simon's Jake's Women . The play's Broadway run was canceled. Channing had starred previously in John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves , and he offered her the role for the official Off-Broadway run. Kurtz later replaced Channing during the Broadway run. ^{[4] [5]}

Production history

The play premiered Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center, on May 16, 1990. Stockard Channing won an Obie Award for Best Actress for her performance. Guare won an Obie Award for his script.

The production was transferred to the Vivian Beaumont Theater for its Broadway debut on November 8, 1990. The production closed on January 5, 1992 after 485 performances, directed by Jerry Zaks. ^[6] Kelly Bishop played the role of Ouisa as a replacement on Broadway, and Laura Linney made her Broadway debut as a replacement for the role of Tess. The original Broadway production was nominated for four Tony Awards, winning for Best Direction for Zaks. A US. National tour was launched in 1992. ^[7] Veronica Hamel also played Ouisa in the first production in Chicago. ^[8]

The play made its UK debut in 1992 at the Royal Court Theatre and then transferred to the West End's Comedy Theatre. In 2010, the play was revived at the Old Vic theatre in London starring Lesley Manville as Ouisa. ^[9]

A 1995 production at Canadian Stage in Toronto, Ontario starred Fiona Reid as Ouisa, Jim Mezon as Flan and Nigel Shawn Williams as Paul. ^[10] Both Williams and Reid won Dora Mavor Moore Awards for their performances, Williams as Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role – Play and Reid as Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Principal Role – Play. ^[11]

In May 2004 Michael Buffong directed a production at the Royal Exchange, Manchester with Lisa Eichhorn as Ouissa Kittredge, Phillip Bretherton as Flanders Kittredge and O-T Fagbenle as Paul. O-T Fabenle won a MEN Award for his performance.

The play was revived on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in a limited engagement opening on April 5, 2017, starring Allison Janney, John Benjamin Hickey and Corey Hawkins, with direction by Trip Cullman. ^{[12] [13]}

Background

The play was inspired by the real-life story of David Hampton, a con man and robber who managed to convince a number of people in the 1980s that he was the son of actor Sidney Poitier. The writer John Guare was a friend of Inger McCabe Elliott and her husband Osborn Elliott. In October 1983 Hampton came to the Elliotts' New York apartment and they allowed him to spend the night. The next morning Inger Elliott found Hampton in bed with another man and later called the police. The Elliotts told Guare about the story and it inspired him to write the play years later. ^[14]

Hampton was tried and acquitted for harassment of Guare after the play became a critical and financial success; he felt that, as the real life protagonist of the story, he was due a share of the profits that he ultimately never received. ^[15]

A strong influence on the play is the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. There are some very overt references to it, as when the protagonist explains the thesis paper he has just written on The Catcher in The Rye ^[16] to the family who takes him in for the night. ^[17] There are also more subtle allusions made both in the script and in the cinematography of the film version, such as when various characters begin to take on Holden Caulfield-esque characteristics and attitudes.

Film adaptation

Main article: Six Degrees of Separation (film)

Guare adapted the play for a film released in 1993 directed by Fred Schepisi. Channing was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film.

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

Year	Award ceremony	Category	Nominee	Result
1991	Tony Award	Best Play		Nominated
		Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play	Courtney B. Vance	Nominated
		Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play	Stockard Channing	Nominated
		Best Direction of a Play	Jerry Zaks	Won
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding New Play		Nominated
		Outstanding Actress in a Play	Stockard Channing	Nominated
		Outstanding Director of a Play	Jerry Zaks	Won
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding New Broadway Play		Nominated
		Outstanding Actress in a Play	Stockard Channing	Nominated
		Outstanding Director	Jerry Zaks	Nominated
	New York Drama Critics' Circle Award	Best Play	John Guare	Won
	Clarence Derwent Awards	Most Promising Male Performer	James McDaniel	Won

Original London production

Year	Award ceremony	Category	Nominee	Result
1993	Laurence Olivier Award	Best New Play		Won
		Best Actress in a Play	Stockard Channing	Nominated

2017 Broadway revival

Year	Award ceremony	Category	Nominee	Result
2017	Tony Award	Best Revival of a Play		Nominated
		Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play	Corey Hawkins	Nominated
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Allison Janney	Nominated
	Drama League Award	Outstanding Revival of a Play		Nominated
		Distinguished Performance	Corey Hawkins	Nominated
			Allison Janney	Nominated

See also

• Small world phenomenon
• Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (game)
• Erdős number

References

1. "Pulitzer Prize for Drama" pulitzer.org, accessed November 13, 2015
2. Krasner, David, ed. (2008). A Companion to Twentieth-Century American Drama. Wiley. p. 364. ISBN   9781405137348.
3. Plunka, Gene A. (2002). The Black Comedy of John Guare. U of Delaware P. p. 190. ISBN   9780874137637.
4. Jake's Women canceled accessed 11/23/2016
5. Play script notes accessed 11/23/2016
6. "'Six Degrees of Separation' Broadway" playbillvault.com, accessed November 13, 2015
7. Writer, JACK ZINK, Theater (4 April 1993). "MARLO THOMAS WOMAN OF DEGREES IN SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, THE ACTRESS FOUND AN ENTICING MIX OF INTELLIGENCE AND CONTROVERSY -- JUST THE THING TO DRAW HER OUT OF TV STUDIOS AND ONTO THE ROAD". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved Aug 31, 2019.
8. writer, Sid Smith, Entertainment (24 July 1992). "HAMEL ADDS WARMTH TO 'SIX DEGREES'". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved Aug 31, 2019.
9. Billington, Michael. "Review. 'Six Degrees of Separation'" The Guardian, 19 January 2010
10. "Theatre Notes". Toronto Star , January 12, 1995.
11. "Dora Winners". Toronto Star , June 27, 1995.
12. Paulson, Michael. "Allison Janney to Return to Broadway in ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ Revival", The New York Times, October 18, 2016
13. Clement, Olivia. " 'Six Degrees of Separation' Announces Rush Policy" Playbill, March 29, 2017
14. New York Mag The Story of David Hampton accessed 7-27-2015
15. Larrt McShane (19 July 2003). "Six Degrees' Inspiration Hampton Dies". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
16. "Catcher references in Six Degrees of Separation". Archived from the original on 2009-10-27. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
17. Colin L. Ryono (2008). "Six Degrees of Separation". Colin's Movie Monologue Page. Retrieved 2008-08-31.

Further reading

• Guare, John (1990). Six Degrees of Separation: A Play (First ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN   0-679-40161-X.
• Salinger, J. D. (1951). The Catcher in the Rye (First ed.). Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN   0-316-76953-3.
• Wolfe, Graham. (2012). “Doorways and Blank Spaces: Intertextual Connection in John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation.” Intertextual Exchanges in American Drama. Eds. Drew Eisenhauer and Brenda Murphy. Jefferson: McFarland. 217–231.

External links

• ​Six Degrees of Separation​ (list of productions) at the Internet Broadway Database
• ​Six Degrees of Separation​ (1990 production) at the Internet Broadway Database
• ​Six Degrees of Separation​ at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Article on Six Degrees of Separation