SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION challenges audience at
Karamu
John Guare, author of SIX
DEGREES OF SEPARATION, which is now being staged at Karamu Theatre, is noted
for his highly theatrical scripts.
His writing often tries to expand the theatre’s boundaries, which
reflects his attitude that “the chaotic state of the world demands it.”
Guare’s 1990 play is
based on the real life story of con artist David Hampton. Hampton came to New York in 1981 and
stumbled on an idea of how to get into the lives of famous people when he
supposedly told the guard at the then famous Studio 54 that he was the son of
Sidney Portier. The ruse
worked and after duplicating the idea at restaurants, he became friends with a
person who gave him inside information which supposedly allowed him to weasel
money and other favors from such personages as Melanie Griffith, Gary Sinise
and Calvin Klein. Even after
getting caught, when the SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION film opened in 1993 Hampton
attempted to get into the producers’ party, gave interviews, and started to
harass Guare. Lawsuits and counter
suits followed.
The title of the play
comes from the unproven theory that everyone on the planet is connected to any
other person through a chain of birth or acquaintances that has no more than
five intermediaries, thus there is no more than six degrees of separation between
you and anyone else in the world.
The play’s core centers
on the Kittredges, a wealthy art dealer and his wife, who, one night when
entertaining are interrupted by a visit from Paul, a charming young man who
claims he has been mugged, has nowhere to go, and has turned to them because
their children, who the young man attended prep school with, had told him about
the kindness of the family. He
also claims to be the son of
Sidney Portier. Not only the
Kittredges, but other families are taken in by Paul. The goings on, including Paul’s bringing a hustler into the
Kittredges home, the dealings between Flan Kittredge and a South African art
dealer, conflicts with their children, a suicide, and the questioning of truth
versus fiction, all emerge.
Karamu’s production,
under the direction of Michael Oatmen, works on some levels, falters on
others. Oatmen, who is a local
playwright, has re-imagined the play, changing the lead characters from white
to black and Paul, the supposed son of Sidney Portier, from black to
white. The switch makes for some
interesting thought concepts as Oatmen did not change the script’s references
to the races of the individuals.
He has also added
dancing, background music, and minimalized the set. Most of these additions are unimportant and add little to
the play and may distract from allowing the audience to get involved directly
in the flow of the story line.
The major problem with
the production is Oatman’s lack of realization that he is working with mostly
untrained actors and, therefore,
needed to spend time teaching the necessary techniques for his cast to
be, rather than feigning or pretending to be, real people . This is a play, as is the requirement
of realistic drama, requires that audiences believe that what they are seeing
is actual. In addition, poor blocking decisions caused actors to presenting
lines with other actors standing in front of them and in distracting clumps.
Dan Rand has excellent
potential as an actor, but stays too close to the emotional surface as
Paul. He is believable, up to a
point, but doesn’t probe deeply enough into the psychological underpinnings of
the character, thus acting like rather than creating a bona fide Paul.
Both Rochelle Jones as
Ouisa Kittredge and Kenneth Parker as Flan Kittredge have some nice moments,
but, as with Rand, they never create authentic people, feigning reality, rather
than living the parts.
Be aware that the
production contains male-to-male kissing and nudity. These actions caused some uncomfortable tittering and gasps
from the opening night audience.
CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION is a well conceived script, based
on a fascinating concept which gets an acceptable, but not mesmerizing
production at Karamu.
SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION
continues through April 7 at
Karamu, 2355 East 89th Street, which has a fenced, guarded and lighted parking
lot adjacent to the theatre, and provides free parking. For ticket information call
216-795-7077.
