I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation. Between us and everybody else on this planet. The President of the United
States. A gondolier in Venice. Fill in the names. I find that A) tremendously comforting that we're so close and B) like Chinese water torture that we're so close. Because you have to find the right six people to make the connection. It's not just
big names, it's anyone. A native in a rainforest. A tierra del
fuegan. An Eskimo. I am bound to everyone on this planet by
trail of six people. It's a profound thought.... How every
person is a new door, opening up into other worlds. Six degrees of separation between me and everyone else on this planet. But
to find the right six people.
--Ouisa Kitteredge, from the play.
Six Degrees of Separation is
John Guare's
1990 play of
race,
class, and
manners, based on the
true story of a man who
scams an
upscale New York couple by passing himself off as the son of
Sidney Poitier. It won it won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Olivier Award in
London, and the
Obie Award for best play. In
1993 it was made into a movie with
Stockard Channing,
Donald Sutherland,
Will Smith, and
Anthony Michael Hall, directed by
Fred Schepisi from Guare's own adaptation. Guare's play is credited with popularizing the phrase, but credits
Guglielmo Marconi, not Stanley Milgram, for inspiring his play.