Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!

Extreme close-up on the face of Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) as the first sunlight hits the garden behind her. Soon a ray catches her tired, ragged, desperate face. An excruciating night of middle-aged drinking lies behind her now, behind George (Richard Burton), her dishevelled yet razor-sharp husband of many years, who has dealt Martha his final blow in their night-long cruel games, innuendos and infidelities. Martha seems a broken woman now as she slowly recuperates from her sobs and the two look on into an uncertain older age. Fade out and credits over Alex North’s deceptively beautiful harp and guitar elegy that brings Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966) to a shattering close.

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