Six Degrees of Separation

A chance pair of free matinee tickets saw me and a friend skipping our way to the Old Vic for front row seats to Six Degrees of Separation. John Guare's play charts the appearance of one Paul Poitier, a charming young black man who insinuates himself into the company of rich Upper East Siders in New York, pretending to know their children at Harvard. Winning over various families, he stays with them without actually stealing from them or behaving in any kind of dubious manner... unless one considers having gay sex in their homes dubious. 


On discovering this bad behaviour, one couple, Ouisa and Flan Kittredge, are outraged. What if Paul had stabbed them in the night? What if he had robbed them? How dare he trick them? But of course, by then he's fled. So we embark on the journey of the Kittredges to track down this imposter in their midst, who turns out not to be Sidney Poitier's son at all. All the while, Paul slowly begins to weave counter-factual stories about his place in their lives. Their friends and children and children's friends are brought into the equation. Has Paul actually really done anything wrong, in aspiring to share in the lives and successes of people he does not know? If the title holds true, and he is only separated from everyone else on earth by only six degrees, why shouldn't he attempt to better himself? 


A good script goes a long way; here was no exception, and the delivery was, to my ears, spot on. There was that polished confidence to the players that left me a half-second behind, in awe, enjoying every twist and turn of the dialogue. When Paul (Obi Abili) starts to monologue on his thesis, a piece on Catcher in the Rye, I couldn't help but feel a little bit, well, emotional. After all, Salinger only passed away less than a week before I saw the show, which made the speech even more poignant, but it's also concerning not just the text itself, but how that book was taken as a symbol for violent rebellion by so many dysfunctional young men. After we learn that Paul is not in fact what he's claimed to be, the parallel between Holden and his 'phonies' and Paul could not really be clearer. Is Paul what he pretends to be? Or is just another person playing at a role? He accuses Ouisa of not being truly happy, and we see how his thesis, his challenge, rings true for many of the characters in the drama. We cannot be sure to what extent we've been watching real lives and not just the poses that people strike for each other.


The Kittredges, so much the centre of the drama, were played by the ever-at-ease Anthony Head and Lesley Manville. They share an excellent chemistry on stage that was heightened both by their overlapping dialogue and by the later realisation provided as to how little they might in fact know each other. Despite that, they rely entirely on one another. Swift, fluid costume changes and a beautiful hemispherical set also enhanced their poise and style. The set worked particularly well as a means for intensifying the drama while also not distracting from the action on stage. As it peeled open, just as more and more characters joined the play, the action seemed to blossom. As the focus returned at the close to Paul, Flan and Ouisa, so too the set closed up. It was a simple, yet very intense, effect to employ, and one that worked in my view.


I suppose it wouldn't be a review without at least the shortest of mentions of the gay sex. After all, you get to see two fully naked men romping on a sofa. That in itself didn't bother me - it's theatre, isn't it? But just to add a bit of spice to the drama, the audience members directly behind me happened to express their shock in rather loud terms. When Paul says "That's enough for now", we heard loudly "Thank God" from over our shoulders. I couldn't help but grin. Perhaps the matinee crowd weren't quite ready for Guare. Let's hope they don't stumble upon some Kane any time soon. For their own sakes.


~~~
2010
Obi Abili, Anthony Head, Lesley Manville
by John Guare
dir. David Grindley, design Jonathan Fensom