Six Degrees of Separation: A Play [Paperback]

John Guare (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 1990

The extraordinary tragicomedy of race, class and manners.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Since its inception in 1974, L.A. Theatre Works, a nonprofit radio production company, has built up a sizable catalogue of ensemble-cast productions in which major name actors (including the likes of Richard Dreyfuss, Kelsey Grammer and Jacqueline Bisset) perform classic and contemporary plays. Typical is this famous Guare work, which stars Alan Alda, Swoosie Kurtz and Chuma Hunter-Gault and is directed by Jay Sandrich. Though on tape, the production still sounds more like theater than anything else: it's all in the timing. Recorded before a live audience, in the open-miked fidelity one can sense the ambient space surrounding the actors, the charge of excitement sparking between them. The opening scene, with its New York City society dinner party, sets the overall tone of clever talkiness (here, Alda and Kurtz especially shine). When a young African-American stranger arrives at the door, claiming to be the son of actor Sidney Poitier, the plot takes some wonderfully unexpected turns. As with other L.A. Theatre Works programs, this is especially well suited for would-be actors, as the tape draws attention to the mechanics of Guare's play itselfAand to the role played by a skilled cast in animating that material. Recommended for libraries and general audiences alike. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From Library Journal

This new effort is an excellent production of Guare's famous play. When a young man enters the Fifth Avenue home of Flanders and Ouisa Kittredge claiming to be a friend of their children and son of actor Sidney Poitier, the couple is charmed by his manners, wit, and intelligence. When the Kittredges discover that "Paul" isn't all he claims to be, they find themselves stuck between embarrassment and fascination. Alan Alda and Swoosie Kurtz portray the Kittredges convincingly, with Kurtz's performance particularly effective, as she captures Ouisa's empathy and simultaneous desire not to get too involved with an obviously disturbed person. Chuma Hunter-Gault sensitively portrays the con man who manages to change the Kittredges' lives irrevocably. A few moments in which it becomes difficult to distinguish among characters' voices are all that mar a fine production. This will be welcome to students, lovers of the theater, and even more traditional fans of audiobooks. Recommended.
-Adrienne Furness, Genesee Community Coll., Batavia, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books ed edition (November 14, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679734813
• ISBN-13: 978-0679734819
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A disturbingly funny play that examines race and class., November 3, 2000

By 

Christian Engler (Woburn, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Six Degrees of Separation: A Play (Paperback)

Based on the true story of a wealthy, well-meaning liberal couple in the upper echelons of New York society's upper crust, we have Flan or Flanders Kittredge and his wife Ouisa or Louisa; the former is a standoffish but deep down good-hearted art dealer in the private sector who has a penchant for the works of Kandinsky and Cezanne; the latter is his wife, articulate and intelligent who is in need of something of greater meaning and depth other than money, art, fancy restaurants and wealthy friends.

And so the evening commences with a friend from South Africa; they are discussing poverty, the downtrodden and the oppressed, overblown intellectual banter to elevate the ego and make the evening progress smoothly and divinely. But the night is anything but that, for it is dramatically interrupted by Paul - a young black homosexual flimflammer or Peter Funk man with a penchant for male street hustlers (only when he is happy - his words). He comes into the lives of these two unwitting victims after stabbing and passing himself off as a friend to their children who are at Harvard. And what else does her profess? You guessed it - that he is the son of you-know-who: Academy Award winner Sidney Poitier, the most eminent black actor of his generation, the hero that has been the catalyst for the lives of these socially and politically 'aware' forty-somethings.

Paul charms and bedazzles himself into the lives of those he encounters, using his wit, knowledge, ease and most importantly, his race, more specifically, Sidney Poitier's name. As the play intensifies, Paul promises the Kittredge's and future unsuspecting victims minor roles in the movie version of Cats, for which his 'father' is purportedly directing. The victims salivate over the prospect of being in a Poitier film, and they let their guards down, for their humdrum existence now has that depth and meaning that was missing at the beginning of the play; it has that structure that their kids, their careers, their money and their friends could not provide. It has a purpose. An assumed black actor's son is mugged in Central Park. And the kind Kittredges help him out. When life is not all that we want it to be, it is easy to have the wool pulled over our eyes. We believe because we want to believe. That is the meat of this play.

This play is complex because of the issues that are addressed; it is not just about race and economics, but it is about the purpose of existance in life. This work evolves and reveals so many layers, layers that are eventually reached, and thus, a truer gift of insight gained. Ironically, in the environment of the wealthy elite and the established intelligentsia, it was a sharpie who made this couple and others similar to them see the gift that life and living really is.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential bit of theater., October 7, 1999

By 

Marc A. Coignard (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Six Degrees of Separation: A Play (Paperback)

John Guare has created a witty, creative, funny, and tragic play with his SIX DEGREES OF SEPERATION, based upon the true story of a wealthy Manhattan couple who are fooled into allowing a con-man who claims to be a friend of their Harvard children, and the son of actor Sideny Potier into their home. Paul, the con-man in question, is a homosexual who has previously seduced a lover into telling him secrets about people in this upper-class Manahatten community. Paul even goes so far as to stabbing himself and claiming that he was mugged for his briefcase.

Mr. guare has adapted this story to the playbook with astoinding creativity and brilliance. His characters grow and learn with each passing scene. Mr. Guare is an incredible author who has built a beautiful world on the stage. I can't imagine how wonderful a sight this must be when seen live. SIX DEGREES OF SEPERATION is essential when studying or performing modern theater. Nothing this decade has stood out as much as this play.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Six Degrees is incredible!, August 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Six Degrees of Separation: A Play (Paperback)

this is a brilliant play and the movie adaption goes by the screenplay almost word-for-word, scene-by-scene. it is about many things, primarily dealing with the nature of social role. but you'll find more than that, you'll find issues in meaning, art, color, dreams, all wrapped up into what can be seen as a social commentary.