Six Degrees of Separation is the concept that everyone can be connected via six or fewer social connections. First posited in the 1920s, it entered the cultural lexicon in 1990 through John Guare’s play of the same name. Sonoma Arts Live is staging a production of Six Degrees of Separation through Feb. 16.
Socialite friends told Guare a story about a young man who claimed to be the son of Sidney Poitier and ingratiated himself into their lives. From that story, Guare developed his award-winning play.
Art dealer Flan Kittredge (Larry Williams) and his wife, Ouisa (Mary Samson), are entertaining a guest (Lukas Raphael) with the hope of him making a substantial investment in an art piece. They’re interrupted by the arrival of Paul (Jonathen Blue), a young man claiming to have just been mugged, who turns to the Kittredges for help, as he is a friend of their children. Paul is invited to spend the evening.
Ouisa discovers Paul in bed with a hustler, and Flan throws them out. They contact their children and discover they’ve never heard of Paul. How did he know so much about them? Who was he? Their investigation leads them to other people who had similar experiences, one ending in tragedy. How were they all connected?
The human desire for connection is at the heart of this play, and the measures one’s willing to take to make those connections provide the drama. The measures one takes to project an “image” provides the comedy.
Director Libby Oberlin cast the show well, with Jonathen Blue showing impressive range and a complex dramatic character. Mary Samson is remarkable as Ouisa, whose desperation for a genuine connection with Paul as a replacement for the lack of connection with her children is palpable. Larry Williams also does well as the family patriarch.
A very talented ensemble (Jake Druzgala, Beth Ellen Ethridge, Pilar Gonzalez, Sean O’Brien, Jess Rodgers, Felizia Rubio, Tim Setzer, Lukas Raphael) takes on multiple roles and through those characters provides many of the play’s lighter moments.
Six Degrees… is neither pure comedy nor pure drama but a show where both are utilized to engage an audience while subtly addressing such issues as classism, racism, the allure of celebrity and the vapidity of Cats. It’s as much a rumination on storytelling as anything else.
Other than some unnecessary directorial flourishes, this production is a story well told.
Sonoma Arts Live presents ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ through Feb. 16 on the Rotary Stage at Andrews Hall in the Sonoma Community Center, 276 E. Napa St., Sonoma. Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $25 -$42. 707-484-4874. sonomaartslive.org.
