Mad Horse Opens New Season with SIX DEGREES OF SEPERATION, 10/7-24

On October 7th, theater enthusiasts will witness local theater history in the making with the opening of Mad Horse Theatre Company's 2010-2011 season.  That date launches the silver anniversary of Maine's premier ensemble theater company that, over 25 critically acclaimed seasons, has built a reputation for cutting-edge productions that illuminate the human experience.  It also signifies the Maine premiere of an American classic celebrating the 20th Anniversary of its original Broadway run:  Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare.
 
Six Degrees of Separation performances run October 7 through October 24 at Portland's newest arts venue, Lucid Stage, located at 29 Baxter Boulevard.  The production marks the first collaboration between the two non-profit arts organizations, establishing Mad Horse Theatre Company as theater-in-residence at Lucid Stage.
 
"...cunningly executed... Six Degrees of Separation is a play about everything, with something in it for everyone..." -NY Magazine
 
Six Degrees of Separation is a comic, affecting and fast paced examination of the threads of chance that link one person to another and a witty commentary of what drives and motivates us as humans.  Six Degrees of Separation is loosely inspired by the real-life story of David Hampton, a con artist who was arrested in Manhattan in 1983 for posing as Sidney Poitier's son in order to gain access to the homes of certain high-profile New Yorkers.  Among those duped were Dean of the Columbia School of Journalism Osborn Elliott and his wife Inger, friends of John Guare who recounted the story to him.  In addition to winning the 1991 New York Drama Critics Circle and 1993 Laurence Olivier Awards for Best New Play and spawning a movie version that earned Stockard Channing a Oscar nomination, the play is responsible for launching the term "six degrees of separation", which refers to the statistical theory that any two people in the world can be connected through only six other people, into the everyday American lexicon.
 
Mad Horse Theatre Company's Associate Artistic Director Peter Brown directs an astonishing ensemble of 16 actors, including Mad Horse Artistic Director Christine Louise Marshall; two of Mad Horse's newly-inducted ensemble members Maureen Butler and Nate Speckman; 12 local artists:  Joe Bearor, Ian Carlsen, Evan Dalzell, John Hickson, Christopher Hoffman, Bill McDonough, Kat Moraros, Jay Piscopo, Jaimie Schwartz, Michael Dix Thomas, Tess Van Horn and Jordan William; and New York actor Bari Robinson, a graduate of the theatre program at Bowdoin College who recently completed his M.F.A. in Acting at Columbia University.
 
The design team for Six Degrees of Separation includes Mad Horse Executive Director Barb Truex (sound), newly-appointed company member Nicole Castro (stage management) and guest artists Stacey Koloski & Dave Seddon (scenery), David Timm (costumes) and Matt Cost (lighting).
 
"It is a thrilling time at Mad Horse Theatre Company right now.  There is so much excitement about the new venue, our new collaboration with Lucid Stage, and, of course, our 25th Anniversary!  I feel so honored to be a part of it, and to be directing the first of four epic productions that we have scheduled as part of the celebration," says Brown.  "Mad Horse holds an important place in Portland's theater scene.  Our mission from the start has been 'to produce plays which compassionately examine and illuminate the enduring aspects of the human experience, focusing on areas of social concern, personal transformation and the building of lasting community relationships'. Six Degrees of Separation exemplifies that mission perfectly.  It seems impossible that such an important American play has never been produced in Maine.  I suspect its enormous cast-17 characters-has made it financially prohibitive for the Equity theaters in the state to produce it, and that the challenges of casting a young African-American actor who can carry the show have kept the community theaters who can stage large-cast shows from pursuing it.   We feel so fortune to have found Bari Robinson, through a web of chance connections reminiscent of the play, to join a team of 15 talented actors from across our community to bring this play to Portland's audiences."
 
Six Degrees of Separation runs 90 minutes without an intermission, and contains adult situations and nudity.