TAMPA — The theory of six degrees of separation says that we are all just six steps away from any other person on the planet — all 6.7-billion people. It's the premise behind John Guare's play Six Degrees of Separation, in which a charming con man dupes a collection of Manhattan sophisticates into believing he is Sidney Poitier's son. Gorilla Theatre is counting on the popularity of the 1990 play, later made into a movie, to reintroduce itself to its audience after being shut down by the Tampa fire marshal in September. The company had to add an exit and make plans to build a fire wall before it could reopen.
With the addition of a second exit, the theater's capacity was reduced from 76 to 47 seats. "It's obviously a lot of seats to lose,'' managing director Bridget Bean says. "We've put in three extra performances to try to make up the difference.'' She added that two performances in the upcoming run are already sold out.
Six Degrees of Separation, directed by Nancy Cole, has a large cast of 15 actors. The stylish movie's all-star cast included Stockard Channing, Will Smith, Donald Sutherland, Mary Beth Hurt and Ian McKellen.
Because homelessness is a theme of the play, donations of nonperishable food will be collected and distributed to Metropolitan Ministries and Second Harvest for the holidays.
Six Degrees of Separation opens Thursday and runs through Dec. 21 at the Gorilla Theatre, 4419 N Hubert Ave., Tampa. 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday. $15-$25. (813) 879-2914; gorillatheatre.com.
A play about squirrels
The Studio@620 continues to be an interesting space for alternative theater. Gavin Hawk, assistant professor of theater at Eckerd College, performs Circumference of a Squirrel by John Walch, opening this week. Here's what the gallery's Web site says about the play:
"Meet Chester, a young man with many obsessions: his father, his mother, his ex-wife, the virology of rabies and most importantly . . . squirrels.
"Circles, both real and figurative, whirl out of control in this darkly comic one-man show. And at the center of them all sits an enigmatic squirrel. Orbiting that squirrel is Chester, a self-described rodentophobe who spins the outlandish, funny, and bruising tale of growing up with a father who developed a rabid hatred for squirrels — a hatred that eventually infected every aspect of his and his son's life.''
The production, directed by Larry Silverberg, has a preview at 8 p.m. Thursday, opens at 8 p.m. Friday and runs through Dec. 14 at the gallery, 620 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg. $10, $20. (727) 895-6620; studio620.org.
Orchestra cool
The Florida Orchestra was at its coolest this past weekend. Not only were the featured guest artists Time for Three, the unorthodox string trio from Philadelphia, but sitting in as the orchestra's pianist was Tampa Bay's jazz man extraordinaire, the luxuriously bearded Richard Drexler.
On to Edinburgh
The Dixie Hollins High School theater program is one of 64 in the country chosen to participate in the American High School Theater Festival at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival next August.
To raise money, students are putting on a pair of one-acts: Shake, Rattle and Rot, a musical with dancing zombies, and Maids Made Men, a 17th century dueling and cross-dressing comedy. Performances are at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the school, 4940 62nd St. N, St. Petersburg. $5.
John Fleming can be reached at fleming@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8716.
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