originally written for The Emory Wheel: Arts & Living (www.emorywheel.com)
Whether it’s through games involving Kevin Bacon or a series of Facebook groups, we’ve all heard of six degrees of separation. Occasionally called the Human Web, it refers to the idea that two people anywhere on earth can be connected to each other by six people or fewer.
College senior Breanna McDaniel and College junior Malcolm Tariq offered a different take on the theory to a packed audience in Schwartz Theater Lab this past weekend, directing and producing AHANA Theater’s version of John Guare’s blockbuster play Six Degrees of Separation.
Written and set in New York City in the early 90s, the play highlights the differences between the affluent and the less fortunate that plagued the city in those years. We begin at the Kittredge household, a stylish apartment on Fifth Avenue where art dealer Flan and wife Ouisa are dressed to impress a potential buyer. Enter Paul, who introduces himself as a friend of their children from Harvard. The Kittredges are charmed by his manners, wit and intelligence. When the Kittredges realize Paul isn’t who they thought he was, they find themselves weaving through a complicated chain of connections to find him again.
McDaniel and Tariq made great casting choices, balancing comedic scenes with the seriousness their subjects deserve. Some characters provided comic relief, like sophomore Brandon Munda who played surly teenage son Doug. Equally hilarious was sophomore Henna Kamdar in the role of Tess, whose character constantly threatened to run away to climb the mountains of Afghanistan. Other characters were used to portray the play’s more thought-provoking moments. Freshman Jordan Naftalis and junior TJ Chernow played a young couple from Utah struggling to make it as actors in New York.
Jennifer Harvey, portraying the role of Ouisa Kittredge, flawlessly portrayed a woman desperately trying to find her place among the people she’s connected to. Joshua Izaak, entertaining as always, played her bourgeois husband Flan. The pair did a wonderful job shifting between the humorous and somber dialogue in Guare’s script.
McDaniel admitted she was slightly worried about her choice.
“It does have a lot of controversial moments,” said McDaniel. Six Degrees of Separation does have some provocative points, but the AHANA crew handles them with ease, as it did with other serious topics approached by the Issues Troup, a group sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services that uses theater to explore issues that affect college students.
“She chose to produce Six Degrees of Separation as AHANA’s first full-length production because it has so many complexities,” shared Tariq. “In less than two hours, we are exposed to issues related, but not limited, to class, race and sexuality. Breanna was specifically interested in how the Upper East Side New York residents treated Paul before they found out that he wasn’t the son of a famous actor and how they treated him after.”
For Tariq, who has been writing plays since middle school, Six Degrees of Separation offered him a chance to delve into directing.
“We learned a great deal about what it’s actually like to direct and ... produce a play,” said Tariq. “I personally learned a lot from Breanna and the actors about what it means to immerse yourself in another world.”
This play also marked the return of AHANA Theater, as it was its first production since 2007. McDaniel brought the organization back to campus this year, taking on the role of artistic director.
AHANA Theater has been involved in many other theater events around campus, from “One Night with AHANA Theater and Issues Troupe” to facilitating “I Dream A World.” Its next project is a production tentatively titled “The Adoption Diaries” for the non-profit organization Families First here in Atlanta.
The play ends powerfully, with Ouisa Kittredge reminding us that, “We are all somehow connected to every other person on this planet. It’s all about finding the right six.”
