John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation at Phoenix Theatre
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 3/24/00
(out of )
It's an interesting concept: Only six people separate
you from such differing people as Bill Clinton and Melissa Ethridge.
While you may not know these people directly, you may have a cousin
whose bank teller's boss' wife's college roommate's stepsister
met them at a rally or concert. This is the theory behind John
Guare's intriguing 1990 play, Six Degrees of Separation.
Using this surprising proximity we have to each other, Mr. Guare
offers a look at how one lonely man, desperate for love, can rock
the world of a woman who believed she wasn't lonely and desperate,
despite (or because of) the odd circumstance that brings them
together. It's a wonderful play, and when the large ensemble is
working together, a powerful one. Unfortunately, a very weak link
in the generally solid chain of Phoenix
Theatre's production undercuts its power.
Director Gary Griffin has given the show a heart-racing pace, and pushed Guare's work even further into the realms of presentational, a choice that is natural knowing Guare's penchant for the odd. This choice works on some levels and misses on others. While allowing the audience to connect with the characters, especially during the initial introductory scene, when the events are told in a dinner party style of presentation, its episodic feel gets overwhelming later in the play. Mr. Griffin has his actors speeding through the script to the inevitable bittersweet conclusion, which keeps the show flowing, but causes some of them to slur words or breeze past emotional moments.
The center of the show is the upper middle class Ouisa, who reacts to the peaceful home-invasion by looking to see what interloper Paul wants from her and her husband's lives. Linda DeArmond does a very good job of moving her character from unconsidered self-assurance to painful self-actualization. Watching her realizations is quite enjoyable. As husband Flan, Harold Dixon is not quite as strong, but still captures the brusque unexplored life of this high-powered art dealer. Finally, there is the third leg of this odd triangle, the poseur Paul who plays white liberal guilt against itself and charms this and many other upper middle class couples with tales of Sidney Poitier and encounters with their Ivy League children. Unfortunately, this crucial role is unconvincingly played by Bruce Nelson. His strange vocal quality and rushed delivery strangle what should be a suave role. There are moments where he seems to be searching for lines and others where he is stammering when he should be schmoozing. There is also not enough differentiation between the scenes of charm and the one when he is given the weapons he'll use on poor Ouisa and the others.
The rest of the ensemble ranges between solid and exceptional. Laura Durant and Bruce Schechter are funny as another couple duped by Paul. While he has his moments, Mel Reid's Afrikaner Geoffrey has an accent that bounds about the globe without ever settling for too long in what should be its native South Africa. The best of the ensemble, though, are the actors who play the spoiled kids of the Upper East Side couples. Trish Kiser, Paul Broccollo, Michael Sherwin and Tim Shawver are hilarious and bring great enthusiasm to their roles. When they rush onstage, crying like babies, and proceed to justify this entrance through their whining and self-centered ways, the show picks up greatly. Equally impressive is Kyle Sorrell, who plays their prep school compatriot, the ne'er do-well Trent, with a scarily believable foppish cynicism.
Aaron Bell's scenic design is solid, recreating the stark apartment that Paul is desperate to enter. Paul Black's lighting depends heavily on specials and pinpoint lighting to imply the fractured, individual world in which Ouisa exists, and while it's great in theory, it becomes disconcerting as actors miss their marks and stand in shadow. Connie Furr's costuming is on target, from Ouisa's shoes to the slightly sinister preppiness of Trent's baggy outfit.
It's unfortunate when one performance can bring down what has the potential to be a wonderful production. Despite this problem, there are still many other worthwhile performances to recommend this show. Between these, the intelligent script, and some of the inventive bits by the director, there's more than enough to still make this an enjoyable evening.
This production contains brief nudity and may not be suitable for younger audiences.
Production Details:
Six Degrees of Separation by John
Guare
Phoenix Theatre,
Phoenix
(602) 254-2151
March 23rd - April 9th, 2000