By Andrew Gans
05 Feb 2003

Never the Sinner's Ethan McSweeny will direct the Guthrie Theater's production of Six Degrees of Separation, which begins performances at the Minnesota theatre March 1.

The award-winning John Guare play, inspired by the real-life story of society impostor David Hampton, will officially open at the Guthrie March 7 and will run through April 6. Danyon Davis heads the cast as Paul, the mysterious young man who claims to be Sidney Poitier's son and unexpectedly enters the lives of Flanders and Ouisa Kitteridge, played by Stephen Pelinski and Amy Van Nostrand. Others in the Guthrie cast include Richard Ooms (Geoffrey), Alex Podulke (Hustler), Sally Wingert (Kitty), Bob Davis (Larkin), Bill McCallum (Detective), Leah Curney (Tess), Bard Goodrich (Woody), Ryan Lindberg (Ben), Nathaniel Fuller (Dr. Fine), Santino Fontana (Doug), Peter Moore (Policeman/Doorman), Jim Lichtscheidl (Trent), Kris L. Nelson (Rick) and Sarah Grace Wilson (Elizabeth).

The creative team for Six Degrees comprises Christine Jones (set design), Constance Hoffman (costume design), Jane Cox (lighting design), Michael Roth (sound design), Marcela Lorca (movement coach), Elisa Carlson (voice and dialect consultant), Jo Holcomb (dramaturgy), Martha Kulig (stage manager), Christopher Hibma (assistant director) and Theresa Schatz (assistant stage manager).

Written in 1990, Guare's Six Degrees of Separation won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Obie Award for Best Play. After an Off Broadway run at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater, the play opened at Broadway's Vivian Beaumont in Nov. 1990, playing a total of 485 performances before closing Jan. 5, 1992. Directed by Jerry Zaks, the original Broadway production featured John Cunningham, Courtney B. Vance and Stockard Channing; the latter reprised her role on film opposite Donald Sutherland and Will Smith. Zaks won a 1991 Tony for Best Director for his work on the production, which also garnered Tony nominations for Best Play, Best Actor (Vance) and Best Actress (Channing).

The Guthrie Theater is located at 725 Vineland Place in Minneapolis, MN. Tickets, priced between $16 and $46, are available by calling the theatre's box office at (612) 377-2224 or (877) 44-STAGE. For more information, visit www.guthrietheater.org.

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On March 8 Guthrie artistic director Joe Dowling will conduct an interview with Six Degrees playwright John Guare. Tickets for "In Conversation with John Guare" are priced at $10 and may be purchased by calling the Guthrie's box office. The conversation begins at 2 PM at the Guthrie Theater.