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1-Page Summary of Six Degrees

Overall Summary

In the play, a Kandinsky painting that changes from one side to another hangs above the stage. Ouisa and Flan Kittredge enter the stage frantically talking about what happened during dinner with their rich friend Geoffrey. They were trying to borrow money for an art deal but things didn’t go as planned.

Before they can leave for the restaurant, a young man named Paul comes in. He’s black and has been beaten up and stabbed. He claims to attend Harvard with their children, though he doesn’t have any proof of this claim. However, his details about their lives seem accurate enough that it could be true. It seems as if he was mugged in the park after being attacked by some other men who stole his thesis paper from him while he was studying at the park bench. They were going to use it against him because of something that happened between them earlier on campus when they all attended college together years ago.

Ouisa and Flan invite Paul to dinner at their restaurant, but he would rather cook for them. They’re impressed with his cooking skills and the ideas behind his thesis on imagination. Geoffrey is more than happy to pay for the painting after such a great evening together.

Ouisa and Flan are extremely grateful to Paul for his help. They also find out that he has been robbed, so they give him fifty dollars to help him out. When Ouisa goes into the spare room in the morning, she finds Paul in bed with a naked man. She is outraged at this discovery and forces them both to leave her house immediately.

When Ouisa and Flan meet another middle-aged couple, Kitty and Larkin, they both say that they have stories to tell. They reveal that they both invited Paul into their houses, only to discover a naked man in their house. The police are not able to press charges against Paul because nothing was stolen.

A middle-aged man, Dr. Fine, and his friend Paul report similar encounters with a young man who later turns out to be Trent Conway. They realize that all of their children went to the same high school as Trent did. Once they talk to their kids, they find out that Paul had been in a relationship with Trent for three months during which time he persuaded him to share intimate details about his old classmates which would later allow him to pretend as if he knew them well enough even though it was only recently that he met them again at the reunion.

At some point later, the doorman spits on Flan and tells him about his black son. The play jumps to Paul in Central Park with two young actors named Rick and Elizabeth. They tell him that Flan is his father but Ouisa won’t let him see or support Paul.

Paul tells Elizabeth that Flan has become rich by selling a Cezanne painting, and he will give them money if they can meet up with him in Maine. However, Paul lies to Elizabeth about using their savings to travel there. Rick gives Paul the money for his trip after spending an expensive night out together. Later on, Paul seduces Rick and leaves without telling him where he’s going next.

When Rick finds out that Paul used his money without having a scholarship, he ends up committing suicide by jumping off of a roof. After Paul hears about this, Ouisa tells him to turn himself in because there’s no way they’re going to keep their savings if Paul was trying steal from them all along.

Paul asks Ouisa and Flan to take him to the police station so that he is treated with respect, but they are delayed by traffic. When they arrive, Paul has already been arrested violently by the police. They cannot find out any details about his location because they are not family members. The whole incident causes Ouisa to reevaluate her values and try living a more rewarding life.