Six Degrees of Separation

Double sided Kandinsky

  For my AP Literature class I read Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare. It tells the story of how a young con man who calls himself Paul comes into the lives of two wealthy art dealers, Ouisa and Flan Kittredge by pretending to be the recently mugged son of Sidney Poitier. I really like how the play jumps from breaking the fourth wall to jumping back into the story. The play seems very fast paced in a good way. I liked the way Ouisa and Flan finished each others sentences or cut each other off with a different topic. Their interaction with each other and the audience was cool because they would be talking to you together but sometimes about different things at the same time. Then they would even pop themselves back into the story. This is very significant to the pacing which shows what good writing can bring to a play. The play to me seemed very minimalistic (I don't know if every production does it that way but that is how I am reading it). The set consists of:

 A bright red carpeted disc, two red sofas, hanging over the stage a double sided Kandinsky which slowly revolved before the play began and when it was over. He encased the black wall, made of black scrim, in a gilt picture frame and then divided that into two levels… When actors appeared in the upper level doors, the set would give the feeling they floated in the dark. (Guare 9)

This set design makes it easier for the play to jump from Ouisa and Flan talking to you, in their apartment, to Paul in central park, making phone calls, etc. while avoiding major set changes to mess with the pacing.
   I don't know if any of that makes sense the way I am saying but if you want to get what I mean then you should definitely read it or see it if you have that opportunity.
    I find Ouisa and Flan appealing but not perfect which probably makes a character even better. They clearly have their own flaws but the way they care about other people (this is more for Ouisa than Flan) makes them more lovable. Kind of like parents, you know they have some beliefs that you may disagree with or go about things in a wrong way but because the way they care about things that other stuff doesn't make them terrible. That kind of goes along with what Paul was saying about how they are such great parents and how their kinds go on about how they think they are great (this is partially incorrect but I'll avoid spoilers).
   Paul is also a very interesting guy but more because he is mysterious in regards to his background, and whether he really is a good and smart guy (Ouisa and I believe he is, Flan not as much). I am finding it hard to go into Paul's character without really giving big plot points away.
   Part of the project I had for AP Lit I also had to watch the film version of the play and I was surprisingly impressed. The way that the play is written it is very, very stage oriented but the film adaptation took care of that quite well. The pace was about the same as I would expect from the stage production (again I did not see it on stage so I can not confirm this on my own). Instead of minimal set I found the colors to be very similar in one room to avoid much distractions. A quick cut to another speaker in another location makes the speed work and the cut off, jumpy feeling there. Hooray film editing! I also thought the casting was really great. Stockard Channing was Ouisa in the original stage production and starred in the film, Donald Sutherland as Flan, and Will Smith as Paul. Sir Ian McKellen was in too as the Kittredge's friend Geoffry Miller. Channing and Sutherland made a great Ouisa and Flan and Will Smith is an amazing Paul.
  The only thing that I kind of wish the film did was keep that element of connection to the audience (us). They did keep the conversational storytelling element to it by having it told at parties and dinners but I liked how they audience got a sense of involvement but Ouisa and Flan breaking the fourth wall and telling it directly to you.
   Overall I think both reading the play and watching the film was worth doing and will add another entry into my minds library that I will see pop up from time to time. It already has actually! When going to the Neue Galerie they had one of the sides of the "double sided" Kandinsky painting that is shown in the film (note: the double sided Kandinsky does not exist but only as two separate paintings. I also don't know if the same two paintings are used for each show). It is the first of the two Kandinskys at the beginning of this post. I got excited to see it in person but nobody else seemed to get why.  Oh well.

Oh and for those who don't know what the Six Degrees of Separation theory is:
everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps.

Yes this does relate to the Bacon number and the six degrees of Kevin Bacon game.