John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation, performed this past weekend by the JHU Barnstormers, explores the idea put forth by various experiments and theories such as Stanley Milgram's small world study. The diverse body of work known vaguely as "six degrees of separation" concludes that all humans are separated by only six degrees; that is to say you know everyone through a chain of individuals only six people long. The premise lends itself to a script that relies heavily on monologues by the lead actors and some long-winded theoretical musing. However, the harmony of script and set as well as the talent of the supporting cast dominated the evening.
Set largely in the upper echelon of Manhattan society in the early '90s, Six Degrees stars sophomore Erica Bauman and junior Bill Fuller as Ouisa and Flan Kittredge. Fuller is natural as a successful, sophisticated private art dealer, and Bauman has unquestionable presence as his breezily charming if sometimes overzealous wife. They lead a seemingly perfect life in a Fifth Avenue apartment adorned with fine furniture and art, most notably a two-sided Kandinsky represented by a single empty picture frame hanging over the stage for the entirety of the play.
The play begins in media res, with the Kittridges frantically assessing their belongings after what one assumes is an attempted robbery. The frenetic pace of the first 15 minutes or so leaves the audience similarly bewildered, almost sacrificing important plot points to the infectious energy of the two leads.
We later learn that the cause of the Kittredges' fervor stemmed from a more bizarre encounter between the themselves and Paul, a young man who earlier stumbled, bleeding, into their apartment, interrupting a dinner party during which Flan was groveling (stylishly) for cash from a wealthy friend. The young man claims to be Paul Poitier, son of Sydney and friend of the Kittredges' children at Harvard. They take him in for the night and all are charmed by his stories of Hollywood and extensive monologues regarding imagination and The Catcher in the Rye.
From there, the play evolved into one in which Paul's deception (he is not a Poitier and never knew the Kittredge kids) of various upper-class New Yorkers demonstrates the ways in which lives are unexpectedly linked while questioning the notion of responsibility and family. Senior Margaret Deli was exceptional as a garrulous doctor duped by Paul's flattery and freshman Pierce Delahunt was convincing and quietly tragic in his own right as Trent, the closeted homosexual friend of the Kittredge children, who was responsible for divulging their life stories to Paul.
The breadth of talent in the show in terms of acting and technical vision was clear. However, the production suffered from a lack of directorial vision. Bauman and Fuller are to be commended for convincingly portraying the parents of college students when they are college students themselves. But in the show's final dénouement, a powerfully written scene in which Ouisa arrives at the realization that perhaps family and love are simply what you will them to be, there was an unmistakable hollowness in all her declarations.
Ouisa's claim that she and her husband are "a terrible match" seems equally devoid of weight. In the world of this production they are in fact a perfect match: Both seem strangely unconcerned with Paul's fate in the hands of an angry NYPD and even their fighting feels perfunctory and transient. This production, rather than allowing Ouisa's character to accept and eventually believe that she is truly linked to the world outside her rose colored windows, seems to allow its characters to settle for superficial revelations that lead them to retreat back
This disconnect between script and stage seems to be related to director Lauren Graham's note in the program, citing Six Degrees as "farce," "love story," "theatre of the absurd" and "hilarious." Certainly there are comedic elements in the script, most artfully captured by Mitch Frank as Geoffrey and Matt Panico as Woody.
Other than Frank and Panico, the show's attempts at humor often sacrifice the more heart-wrenching aspects of Guare's script for yuks - the children of the play seem less like angry, ungrateful trust fund kids and more like caricatures of brats, a funny but easy choice on Ms. Graham's part for actors who seemed ready to handle more. The distracting and awkward use of empty bowls and wine carafes during the dinner scene as well as the nonexistent Kandinsky all seem to highlight the sense of stagnation and feigned sincerity conveyed by the characters, a choice that is wholly at odds with Guare's script.
That being said, the achievements of the production are many. Set Designer Michelle Zwernemann, Lighting Designer Charles Zhang and Costumer Marianna Strazza all brought Six Degrees to life in an exciting and harmonious fashion while the talented cast succeed in bringing to Swirnow Theater what is almost certainly the most nuanced and challenging Barnstormers production of the past several years.
