Photo by Joan Marcus
Trip Cullman's classy revival of John Guare's 1990 play Six Degrees of Separation - our #ShowOfTheWeek - boasts a fine cast of actors in its limited engagement at the Barrymore Theatre. In today's society, ruled by the Empire known as "Google," Guare's drama puts the pre-World Wide Web Catfish in the spotlight in this interestingly retro production, which makes a bona fide stage star out of one Corey Hawkins.
The production has been nominated for a Tony Award for "Best Revival of a Play," whilst Mr. Hawkins has received his first Tony nomination in the competitive category of "Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play". Read our interview with the man himself HERE.
Six Degrees revolves around a wealthy Upper East Side couple - Oiusa (a dry-quipping and vulnerably maternal Allison Janney) and Flan Kittredge (John Benjamin Hickey at his unassuming best). Flan is a private art dealer and one night, as they are trying to close a 2-million dollar investment deal with their even wealthier, South African friend Geoffrey in the confines of their apartment, a young African-American bursts in, bleeding and aided by the doorman, as an apparent mugging victim. He drops the names of the couple's children - who he knows from Harvard - and eventually the hallowed name of his father, Sidney Poitier... and the con begins.
What follows is a tale inspired by a true story, which twists and turns, revealing a gradual self-discovery for Ouisa and yet the origin and ultimate fate of the young con artist Paul are left mysteriously unanswered.
Corey Hawkins' mature portrayal of Paul is completely enticing. He handles the intricacies of this complex character with great intelligence and stage presence. At times magnetically charismatic and at other times desperately vulnerable, he succeeds in making us the audience react to him in the same way Ouisa does. We know he is in the wrong, but we want to know more about him, we will him to succeed in his young life and we want to forgive him. That is by no means an easy task, when taking on the role of a con-artist, and so I tip my hat to Mr. Hawkins. Bravo!
Trip Cullman injects energising does of pace into the production with his over-the-top scenes featuring the wealthy couples' children, who, in stark contrast to Paul's demeanour, behave like spoiled brats, stomping around the stage like toddlers who have just had their favourite toy confiscated. A special mention goes to Colby Minifie as the Kittredge's daughter Tess whose interactions with her parents are adolescent, comic gold.
But all in all, the beauty of Six Degrees of Seperation is in Guare's writing. Ouisa and Flan constantly break the fourth wall, eager to tell us about this extraordinary chapter in their lives, and as a result we suddenly feel like privileged dinner party guests. As he did in his opening encounter with the Kittredges, Paul is the cook behind this meal and we are happy to guzzle it up... every last morsel!
Click here for tickets to Six Degrees of Separation for performances through to July 16, 2017 at Broadway's Barrymore Theatre.
Allison Janney & Corey Hawkins in Six Degrees of Separation More Production PhotosOriginally published on