Six Degrees of Separation

By John Guare
Directed by David Grindley

The Old Vic, London
8 January – 3 April 2010

David Grindley directs Obi Abili, Anthony Head and Lesley Manville in John Guare’s
adrenalin-fuelled, Olivier award-winning play Six Degrees of Separation. A sharp, vivacious take on two worlds colliding, the play is inspired by the real life story of a flamboyant con artist who managed to convince wealthy residents of Manhattan’s Upper East Side that he was the son of Sidney Poitier. Six Degrees of Separation had its official Broadway debut in 1990 and in 1993, was adapted into a film starring Stockard Channing (reprising her Broadway role), Donald Sutherland and Will Smith.

This new production at The Old Vic will be the first major London revival of the play in almost 18 years. Obi Abili plays Paul. As a recent graduate of RADA, Obi has emerged as one to watch in 2010.

His theatre work to date has included Dido Queen of Carthage at the National Theatre; Brothers Size at The Young Vic and Angels in America (Headlong Theatre). Whilst at RADA, Obi performed in productions including Balm in Gilead written by Ché Walker, The Merchant of Venice and Assassins. Recent television work includes Moses Jones (BBC); Foyles War and Kingdom with Stephen Fry (ITV).

Anthony Head plays John Flanders ('Flan') Kittredge. After his West End debut in Godspell,
Anthony went on to star in many acclaimed stage productions including Peter Shaffer’s
Yonadab, Chess, The Rocky Horror Show and Otherwise Engaged with Richard E. Grant (West End). His wide ranging television credits include Secret Army, Enemy at the Door, Love in a Cold Climate, Howard’s Way, the Fox series VR.5 as well as the Golden Globe nominated series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Sarah Michelle Gellar. Anthony’s recent television credits have included Spooks, Manchild and Little Britain (BBC). He can currently be seen in the second series of the highly successful BBC drama Merlin.

Lesley Manville plays Louisa (‘Ouisa’) Kittredge. She is perhaps best known for her acting
collaborations with director Mike Leigh which began in 1980. She has appeared in his films High Hopes, Secrets and Lies, Topsy-Turvy, All or Nothing (for which she was awarded the London Film Critics Circle Best Actress Award) and Vera Drake. Other film appearances include Dance with a Stranger and Sammie and Rosie Get Laid. She was last seen at The Old Vic in the world premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s All About My Mother. Recent theatre includes Her Naked Skin, Pillars of the Community and His Dark Materials at the National Theatre. She has appeared in many new plays at the RSC’s Warehouse and at the Royal Court, including The Mother by Mark Ravenhill, Borderline, Rita, Sue and Bob Too, Falkland Sound and Top Girls for which she won an Obie Award in New York. Television work includes the BBC series Cranford, North and South and Law and Order UK.

John Guare’s plays include Lydie Breeze, Bosoms and Neglect, Landscape of the Body, A Few Stout Individuals and The House of Blue Leaves (which won an Obie and New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the Best American Play of 1970-71 and four Tony Awards in its 1986 Lincoln Center revival). Six Degrees of Separation received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1991 and the Olivier Best Play Award in 1993. John also wrote the lyrics and coauthored the book for the 1972 Tony-winning Best Musical, Two Gentlemen of Verona and was Oscar nominated for his screenplay for Louis Malle's Atlantic City. In 2003 he won the PEN/Laura Pels Master Dramatist Award; in 2004, the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 2005, the Obie Award for sustained excellence. He is a council member of the Dramatists Guild, co-editor of the Lincoln Center Theater Review, and teaches playwriting at the Yale School of Drama.

David Grindley’s recent credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Stratford, Ontario), The Philanthropist (Broadway), The American Plan (Broadway), Crown Matrimonial (Tour), Blackbird (Tour), Pygmalion (Broadway), Journey’s End (Broadway) which won the 2007 Tony Award for Best Revival. Other credits include In The Club (Hampstead/Tour), Honour (Wyndhams), The Philanthropist (Donmar), National Anthems (Old Vic), What The Butler Saw (Hampstead/ Criterion), Some Girls (Gielgud), Journey’s End (Comedy) Abigail’s Party (Hampstead/ Ambassadors/Whitehall), Loot (Chichester/Vaudeville), Single Spies (Tour), Richard III (Mercury, Colchester) and The League of Gentlemen. In development, he has the stage adaptations of Mephisto, The Third Man and Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont.

The company includes Obi Abili (Paul), Sarah Goldberg (Elizabeth), Michael Goldsmith
(Ben), Ilan Goodman (Doug), Anthony Head (Flan), Lesley Manville (Ouisa), Steven Pacey
(Larkin), Sara Stewart (Kitty), Paul Stocker (Woody) and Kevin Trainor (Trent).

The Old Vic, The Cut, London SE1 8NB
Box Office: 0844 871 7628
Book Online: www.oldvictheatre.com