Six Degrees of Separation
By John Guare
July 6 - 30, 2006
The Richard Hugo House
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The cast in a moment from ReAct's
Six Degrees of Separation.
Photo: David Hsieh.
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The cast in a scene from ReAct's
Six Degrees of Separation.
Photo: David Hsieh.
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The Program
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The Setting
New York City, 1990.
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Brooke Hills as Elizabeth with
Travis Myers as Rick in
ReAct's presentation of
Six Degrees of Separation.
Photo: David Hsieh.
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Eloisa Cardona as Ouisa, Dennis
Kleinsmith as Flan and Rahul
Upadhyaya as the Doorman in
ReAct's Six Degrees of Separation.
Photo: David Hsieh.
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Six Degrees of Separation
was first produced at the Mitzi E Newhouse Theatre, Lincoln Center Theater, in New York City on May 19, 1990.
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Production Notes
Director's Notes
"What connects us?" The works of John Guare, in particular Six Degrees of Separation, have always been among my favortite plays. Due to venue scheduling changes at our 2005 Staged Play Reading Series, we had to find a short-length last-minute play replacement to close out the series last fall. Six Degrees of Separation instantly leapt to mind.
Eloisa Cardona as Ouisa in
ReAct's Six Degrees of Separation.
Photo: David Hsieh.
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Both at our staged reading and in this mainstage production, we’ve cast the show to reflect a truer representation of the world’s population. In spite of the inherent challenges of such an unusually large cast, our fully-staged reading last October went off smoothly and was well received. I have fond memories of frantically cutting out geometric shapes with the cast and and taping them to the board we hung to represent the reading’s rotating Kandinsky just minutes before the house opened. That brief exploration of the play reminded me of the richness and continuing timeliness of Guare’s masterpiece, penned over fifteen years ago. When I was finalizing our 2006 season a few weeks later, like an epiphany, a comment Margaret Cho made about her admiration of Sidney Poitier while she was in town at another event in the exact same venue that our staged reading had taken place cinched my decision of including Six Degrees on our mainstage this year.
It was interesting to me to see audience reaction to our multi-cultural staging...In a traditional staging the role of Paul would normally be the only character of color, and while many appreciated our more global casting of the show, some felt that using additional ethnic actors somehow diluted the racial impact of the play. Unfortunately racism is not simply "black and white" and often internal racism, ethnic self-hatred, and racism between different ethnic factions can often be more damaging in our culture, and we wanted to bring that to light as much as the themes of racial and socio-inequality and intolerance.
We are all connected whether we realize it our not...not just by the people we know, but by our goals, our desires, our humanity and ultimately our future. Across social-economic, racial, sexual, or geographic boundaries, we all share the same history, the same planet and the same need for meaningful human contact. And yet, finding the right connections to break through these barriers is our continuing challenge. I always look forward to meeting new people and discovering what connections we share, what new chapters in our lives are about to begin and what adventures lie on the other side of the doorway opening into new worlds. Two sides. Six degrees...
--David Hsieh, Director of Six Degrees of Separation
>>ReAct's 2005 Staged Reading
>>Press Release and Publicity Photos
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ReAct's production of Six Degrees of Separation
was produced by special arrangement with DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE, INC.
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Joseph Mascorella as Paul,
Henry Drew as the Policeman and
Curt Bolar as Dr. Fine in ReAct's
Six Degrees of Separation.
Photo: David Hsieh.
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Eloisa Cardona as Ouisa with
Joseph Mascorella as Paul in
ReAct's Six Degrees of Separation.
Photo: David Hsieh.
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Special Thanks To...
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ACT for loaned set pieces
Carl Bronsdon for costume support
The Cast & Crew for production support and loaned costumes and props
The Cast of our 2005 staged Reading for development support
Lorna Chin for production support
Cornish College of the Arts for loaned costumes
The Elliott Bay Book Company for promotional support
Brian Flora and Anneleen Severynen for production support
George Paul Glanzman for production support
Vera & Joey Ing for donated rehearsal space
The Richard Hugo House for loaned set pieces and production support
Herb Tsuchiya for production support
Marne Cohen Vance for production support
Alfonso Woods for loaned costume piece
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Brooke Hills as Elizabeth
Travis Myers as Rick and
Joseph Mascorella as Paul in
ReAct's production of Six
Degrees of Separation.
Photo: David Hsieh.
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Jeffrey Wade Gilbert as Larkin,
Kathy Ulrich as Kitty, Eloisa
Cardona as Ouisa and Dennis
Kleinsmith as Flan in ReAct's
Six Degrees of Separation.
Photo: David Hsieh.
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