'Six Degrees Of Separation' at The Old Vic

This evening we went to see 'Six Degrees Of Separation' at The Old Vic, a play I've never heard of by an author I've never come across before, so that should make for an interesting time. I was also thrown when Chris mentioned it was 90 minutes with no half time - no half time? What's that all about?

Anyway, it was a very simple set with a red carpet, a sofa and a table surrounded by moving oval walls painted a la Rothko in red and brown. Most appropriate for the home of an art dealer. As the blurb says:

When Ouisa and Flan Kittredge let an injured young man into their home in the middle of the night, they open the door on a new and enticing world. But is it really what it seems? Guare's witty play scratches beneath the surface of a world obsessed with money and fame – how can anyone be sure that people are who they say they are?

Inspired by the real life story of a flamboyant con artist who convinced wealthy residents in Manhattan that he was the son of actor Sidney Poitier, Six Degrees of Separation is a captivating study of society's pretensions exposed by one man's self-confidence and imagination.

The play originally debuted on Broadway in 1990 and in 1993 it was adapted as a film starring Stockard Channing - reprising her Broadway role - Donald Sutherland and Will Smith. This new production will be the first major London revival of the play in almost 18 years.

As Chris commented afterwards, it's one of those plays that you can read a lot into, to which I replied that that might say more about the person than the play. I am deep, sometimes. I don't think I read too much into the play - and possibly read not enough into it - but I quite enjoyed it. The first 15 minutes or so made me worry I might get bored or drop off but it then grabbed my attention and I started paying attention to what was happening - and what wasn't happening - on stage. The main couple were played by Leslie Manville and Anthony Head, with Paul (the fraudster) played by Obi Abili. I quite liked Obi but he was a bit hyper every now and then. On the other hand, Anthony Head seemed hyper throughout.

It was a bit dated by references to apartheid at the start and then references to HIV/AIDS and condoms later in the play but it was interesting to see the main character played as a gay black man and how the characters respond to this, particularly when he's caught on the couch with a shag for the night and the shag merrily parades around the stage waving his willy at poor Leslie. He certainly wasn't shy.

There was a lot going on in the play, comments on the generations, on poor little rich kids and their parents, on high society, on fake art lovers when it's really about money, etc etc. I felt sorry for the young people in the play who play rather two dimensional obnoxious rich kids in contrast to poor kid Paul who is nice, apparently educated and respectful of his elders, etc. A bit obvious but hey-ho, that's the way it goes.

In a way, I didn't much care that Paul was conning the rich people but when he took all the money from the poor young couple, seduced the bloke who then committed suicide, then the play took on a bit more of a moralising tone that I'm not sure really worked. It was rather an abrupt turn, probably meant to shock but it just made me think, 'aha, he's setting up the ending'. And he was.

Still, I enjoyed it enough to not whinge that it was short and I missed my half-time drink and ice-cream (some things are important). Would I see it again if the tickets were cheaper? Yes. I think there's enough in the play to get me thinking again.