The Dining Room

by A.R. Gurney

Full Length, Comedy/Drama

THE STORY: The play is set in the dining room of a typical well-to-do household, the place where the family assembled daily for breakfast and dinner and for any and all special occasions. The action is comprised of a mosaic of interrelated scenes—some funny, some touching, some rueful—which, taken together, create an in-depth portrait of a vanishing species: the upper-middle-class WASP.

The actors change roles, personalities and ages with virtuoso skill as they portray a wide variety of characters, from little boys to stern grandfathers, and from giggling teenage girls to Irish housemaids.

Each vignette introduces a new set of people and events; a father lectures his son on grammar and politics; a boy returns from boarding school to discover his mother’s infidelity; a senile grandmother doesn’t recognize her own sons at Christmas dinner; a daughter, her marriage a shambles, pleads futilely to return home, etc.

Dovetailing swiftly and smoothly, the varied scenes coalesce, ultimately, into a theatrical experience of exceptional range, compassionate humor and abundant humanity.

PERFORMANCES:

Friday, January 24 - 7:30 PM
Saturday, January 25 - 7:30 PM
Sunday, January 26 - 2:00 PM

Thursday, January 30 - 7:30 PM
Friday, January 31 - 7:30 PM
Saturday, February 1 - 7:30 PM
Sunday, February 2 - 2:00 PM

Thursday, February 6 - 7:30 PM
Friday, February 7 - 7:30 PM
Saturday, February 8 - 7:30 PM
Sunday, February 9 - 2:00 PM