John Guare's satirical comedy of manners is a joy from start to finish. We loved doing this play and it remains one of the most memorable for our audiences. It ran in the Crypt Arts Centre in April 1998 and was our first production to be reviewed by the national media.


Excerpts from reviews:

Crooked House Theatre's production of John Guare's play is one of those productions in which everything works effortlessly not in spite of, but because of, its limitations. Guare's play, based on a story in the New York Times about a group of wealthy Upper Eastsiders gently deceived by a young conman claiming to be Sidney Poitier's son, explores the delicate balance between chaos and control in a shrinking world, and the ecstacy or terror which ensues when the balance is skewed slightly. It is also a play of performances, both individual and ensemble, in which the action flows between stylised enactment and direct address to the audience. With minimal propping and fluent staging, Peter Hussey's clear eyed and smart direction elicits detailed and precise performances from Anna Murphy, Darren Donohue and Matthew Lalor in the central roles, and builds around them a strong supporting ensemble to produce a cohesive and dynamic collective energy.

- Jocelyn Clarke, The Sunday Tribune



Guare's preoccupation with the counterpoint of madness emerged a quarter of a century ago with The House of Blue Leaves and he's updated his quirky view of sanity with humour and erudition in his award-winning Six Degrees of Separation given its Irish premiere by Crooked House at the Crypt in Dublin Castle. And they do a remarkably good job.

If each of us could only isolate the six individuals who are the determinants for our place on the planet, in society, and on the scale of philosophy and understanding, says Guare, we could be perfectly happy. And he sets his nutty characters off in search of their own determining factors in a tumbling rush of events that leaves everyone, including the audience, questioning the nature of reality, love, lust, and art. […] In a post-religious world, Guare depicts the glittering prizes of commercial success as the ultimate apotheosis. And very funny it all is.

- Emer O' Kelly, The Sunday Independent