Barnstormers' "Six Degrees" of Sophistication

◊◊◊◊ out of five.  90 minutes, no intermission.  Adult language, sexual situations and brief male nudity. 

It has been hypothesized that every human being can be linked to each other by six connections (or less, apparently, if you are Kevin Bacon).  That is to say, we are all linked by six degrees of separation.  John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation touches on the complex idea, but it is really about so much more than that.  In a world even more easily connected than when his play was first produced (the early 90's), and the media makes us believe we are closer to people of wealth and fame than we really are (ok, we all know more about Britney Spears than we should) this play has much to say and is as relevant as ever.   

Perhaps that relevancy is even clearer in the superb production of the play being given by the JHU Barnstormers, which closes this weekend.  That could be because a good deal of the play is about how little parents know about their own children and how easy it is to lose complete touch - even in a text-message-email-facebook society.  The theme of adults and children growing apart is as old as humanity (nothing changes that much), but it takes on a much more ominous, scary life when one realizes how potentially dangerous identity theft is. 

The play, part comedy, part drama, concerns the arrival of a mysterious young man named Paul into the lives of New York society.  His charm, sincerity and amazingly detailed knowledge of these people's children, coupled with crisis (he has been stabbed), easily gets him in the door and, later, a meal and roof over his head.  When he reveals that he is the son of actor Sidney Poitier, the elite salivate even more.  Then, he makes a fatal error (I won't ruin the significant surprise here) and he is on the run.  It doesn't take long for the parents to begin questioning what they know about this guy, and when they find out that several of their peers have been conned similarly, they frantically search for reasons why this guy knows such intimate details of their lives.  The degree of separation here is frighteningly close - they are connected because their children all attended the same boarding school.  Panic ensues, even as the gap between the generations grows wider and wider. 

It is most interesting to see young people who could easily be in this situation act it out.  The cast members who play the college students (Rosie Xie, Jackie Huang, Jessica Lambertson, Matt Panico) are quite good at it.  You might think this an odd thing to say, but they do not appear at all to be acting, there is no sense of heightened reality or, best of all, over acting.  They just simply are - and that is high praise.  Other members of the company in smaller roles contribute nicely, giving their parts full development, and living the adage "there are no small parts, only small actors."  These folks are not small actors, resisting the urge to overplay or upstage.  Jerome Simmons (the doorman), Claire Kenney (the detective) and Faisal Rahim (the policeman) are to be commended.  Tony Chiarito as the hustler gets about 2 minutes stage time, but handles the potential issues (his being fully naked, having been interrupted during sex with another man) with character and much bravey.  I don't know that I could be that undressed with my parents five feet away from me! 

Three other actors play college aged people, with somewhat more substantial roles, and make significant impact on the play as a whole and in their part of the complicated plot.  PierceD plays Trent, a young man with several issues, who ultimately has much to do with how the play turns out; he handles his stage time well, with notable lack of discomfort.  Adam Reiffen and Evelyn Clark play a naive couple from Utah in the Big Apple to make it big.  It also makes them an easy mark.  Both young actors play the naivete without becoming ridiculous sterotypes.  And both actors have later scenes individually that require just the right amount of drama and earnestness; both handle these scenes excellently. 

In a play that has most of the cast acting their age, a lesser production might have the young actors playing the adults overdoing it, with lots of mugging and scenery chewing to "really show us" they are grown ups.  Mercifully, and to the huge credit of everyone involved here, all six actors deliver the adult goods with an air of sincerity and reality which also serves to ground the play when the moments of absurdity come about.  Margaret Deli as Dr. Fine, obstetrician, and, we find out, not the mother she thinks she is, has fun playing the full gamut here - professional, worried mom, hysterical parent, ranting divorcee.  Again, the comedy comes from the balance between heightened theatricality and naturalism, and Miss Deli is terrific at it.  Mitch Frank, as Geoffrey, South African art dealer, is the pitch perfect embodiment of foreign grace finding amusement at the folly of Americans.  His uppity presence works a nice balance with his graciousness, and his accent is 100% believable.  What is most interesting about Mr. Frank's portrayal is the way he watches, stealthily and predator-like, the antic of the newcomer, a black young man.  The play taking place close to the time of the end of apartheid, makes this unspoken dynamic a powerful nuance. 

Richard Zheng and Natachi Chukumerije play a couple of friends of the main characters, who find some measure of relief in finding out they are not alone in being conned.  Both actors play the "upper crust" attitude very well, and it fun to watch the cracks begin to show when the two argue - one wants to let it go, the other wants to attack.  And both actors play that "we are married, intend to stay that way, but we're bored" attitude superbly. 

The main couple of the evening is Ouisa and Flan Kittredge; she's a socialite, he's an art dealer.  Erica Bauman (Ouisa) plays her role with a natural ease that suggests a combination Martha Stewart/Ivana Trump/Laura Bush - sweet, gracious, but watch out!  The role requires quite a bit of direct audience address, which she handles with the polish of Oprah, and both she and Bill Fuller (Flan) are required to do some stylized acting, as they take us back and forth between the immediate past and the present.  Mr. Fuller, clearly seems to relish his stage time, particularly when he gets to drop the business man veneer.  A few times, when he speaks with slightly clenched jaw, a la Thurston Howell III, he come a little too close to parody, but otherwise he gives a very credible, very natural performance. 

The catalyst for the entire play, Paul, con man extraordinaire is played by Gerrad Taylor, a good-looking guy with obvious charms and megawatt smile.  If at first he comes across a little too good to be true, slightly betraying his con man status, Mr. Taylor otherwise is exactly the kind of guy your mother warned you about.  Smooth, smooth, smooth.  And a great liar, full of minute details that make him totally believable.  That is, believable until stories are compared and fact checked in books.  Mr. Taylor is part Cheshire Cat, part Pinocchio, and part Denzel, and completely winning. 

Directed with theatrical flair (dictated by Guare's script) by Laura Graham, this production really cooks.  Ms. Graham has skillfully gotten her actors to be natural and unaffected, which really works to their benefit when the script calls for some rather heightened affectation.  The result is an interesting, nuance-filled performance that makes you think and be entertained all at once.  Her pacing is also excellent, with nary a lull in the entire 90 minutes of running time. 

Students perform and run this company, and that includes the design jobs.  Marianne Strazza's costumes are spot on, revealing character as much as the lines do, and Charles Zhang's lighting is both stark, to match the set, and artful, with limited use of color, which sharpens the play's "artistic" moments nicely.  His striking use of silhouette really makes the nude scene more dramatic and oddly enough, more comfortable for all concerned.  Zabecca Brinson's sound design is clear and specific.  But it is really Michelle Zwernemann's set design - suggesting both posh, upscale minimalism and Greek theatre at the same time, plays into the whole dichotomy of reality and theatricality that this play and this production really stresses.  It is wonderful to see a group of designers so wonderfully in sync. 

Recently, a fellow critic published an article decrying local theatre, dismissing community theatre as dull and full of actors who aren't actors, but rather day workers with a very public hobby.  Well, while that might be true in limited cases, but those of us who really embrace local theatre know that is hogwash.  The JHU Barnstormers, a completely student run, extra-curricular organization, really blows that theory out of the water.  They have "day jobs" to be sure - Hopkins is no slouch school - and most of the company has dual majors or majors and multiple minors in things like art history, bioethics, astrobiology, physics, neuroscience and the like.  But you'll have to look long and hard to find a more polished, professional grade performance than Six Degrees of Separation.  Don't miss this one if you can help it!

 

PHOTOS courtesy of the JHU Barnstormers.  TOP to BOTTOM: Mitch Frank, Gerrad Taylor and Erica Bauman; Mothers and Daughters; Gerrad Taylor and PierceD; Evelyn Clark and Adam Reiffen; Richard Zheng and Natachi Chukumerije; Erica Bauman and Bill Fuller; Gerrad Taylor.