“I read somewhere that everybody on the planet is separated by only six other people”, says Ouisa, the central female character in the latest play from St. Jean’s Players, one of New York’s longest-established non-profit theaters, “The president of the United States. A gondolier in Venice. An Eskimo. I am bound to everyone by a trail of six people. It’s a profound thought: how every person is a new door, opening up into other worlds.”
The play, of course, is “Six Degrees of Separation,” written by leading American playwright John Guare, who grew up in an Irish Catholic family in Jackson Heights, Queens. It was first staged at Lincoln Center in 1990 and filmed for the screen in 1993.
“Through the door of Ouisa and her husband’s Fifth Avenue home,” according to St. Jean’s Players’ introduction, “unexpectedly enters Paul, the play’s other protagonist, an attractive young black man and Harvard classmate of their two children, and son of an iconic Hollywood actor, or so it seems.
After decades performing on the Upper East Side, “Six Degrees” will be performed by a cast of 16, at a new venue, the conveniently located and handicapped-accessible TADA! Theater, 15 West 28th St. between Fifth Avenue and Broadway.
The work will be performed two weekends only, from May 5 – May 14 (May 14 is Mother’s Day). Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $30, $25 for Seniors 65+ and Children 12 through 18. For tickets and additional information, visit www.stjeansplayers.org.
