Six Degrees of Separation Revival Review: (spoilers)

Posted: 4/7/17 at 12:29am

I was lucky enough to get to see the original production of this show at Lincoln Center in 1990 starring the unforgettable Stockard Channing and the then young up and comer Courtney B. Vance (now Tony and Emmy Winner). I must say it was a formative experience for me. The themes of which Mr. Guare was playing with….class/race/self worth/the need for connection and validation/the role of imagination in possibility, they are all still relevant today.  But the play itself is not easy to pull off, that’s evident to me now after seeing the revival performing in previews at the Barrymore Theatre.

 

Trip Cullman is a director of the moment, but his work on Six Degress is just not doing the material justice. One, his production has no pacing. Jerry Zaks, who directed the original, understood that the play is so dense with ideas that it needed more of a breakneck pace so they couldn’t be picked apart till after it was over, but also to make the ideas all feel like they are part of this one show. Plus the show should build to a titillating conclusion as the story shifts to things like tragic death and the joys of rebirth….you aren’t aroused in the slightest. Two, Cullman hasn’t chosen when to zero in on on these characters so we are left without truly understanding the relationships the story is about. The central relationship is about how Ouisa and Paul, two complete strangers and polar opposites slowly start to see each other and fall in a kind of mother son love. You just don’t feel that or see any of the relationships that should be developing here.  The gorgeously unique language never lifts from the stage.

 

Miss Janney has had a celebrated career in film and television. There’s no doubt she is a fabulous actress…she understands how to handle Ouisa’s switch from comedy to serious drama with ease, but she is not a natural for the role.  She’s known for no nonsense characters, blunt and confidently unapologetic broads. Without a director who concentrates on character her choices never lead to building the character of Ouisa. We end up not getting that she is transforming into a new woman by the end of the play. We don’t get the rebirth we got from Miss Channing (equally brilliant in the great film version)

 

Corey Hawkins has an appealing presence, he’s likable.  He lacks depth, however and comes across as the average joe, not the electrifying presence Paul should have.  There isn’t an ounce of sexual energy in him. Again, I’d link it back to the lack of exploration of the character by the Director. 

 

The rest of the cast, including the usually wonderful John Benjamin Hickey feels like the Jr. Varsity team, like the rest of the principal cast called in sick and the understudies went on in their place. The teenagers come off like actors with almost no training (the audience laughs throughout, but i would argue this is the strength of Mr. Guare and his vision for them, not the performances. They're entrances are genuinely funny though) If this is the state of theater acting….Houston, we have a problem. 

 

The staging is weak. The blocking is lazily set. Again, the motivations of these characters do not seem fully explored and examined. They continuously do things that you as viewer know they wouldn’t or shouldn't. 

 

The set by Mark Wendland is part homage to the original with the 80’s chic all red carpet platform and of course the double sided Kandinsky. It feels dated instead of refreshed.The rest of the apartment all in red is seen slightly hidden behind a scrim slowly revealed by the end of the play. I’m not sure why, it uncovers no secrets about the story at large. An attempt to be cinematic by shifting the entire apartment to stage right on tracks revealing the ally way/college dorm where Paul meets his “teacher” is inspired. Projections on the exposed alley give us the feel of central park…the overall look is cheap, more ikea than park avenue.

 

The lighting and sound design by Ben Stanton and Darron L. West seem directionless, like they don’t know when a spotlight should isolate someone in a monologue or if music should underscore a moment to help increase dramatic effect.  Its amateur.

 

Overall the revival disappoints on many levels. It’s unfortunate. This is still a wonderful play with themes that should resonate. My opinion, watch the wonderful film adaptation that even the so so Will Smith can’t ruin….at least you’ll get a glimpse at the marvelous Stockard Channing and some really inspired film direction where the dialogue is still the centerpiece.