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Dinner With Friends |
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Author: Donald Margulies
Music and Lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe
Reviewer: Carolyn Albert for Theatre Reviews Limited |
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When couples -- and worlds -- collide ...
Playwright Donald Margulies has achieved the near-impossible with his new (and assured hit) play. He has written about four people in a relationship called friendship. They are four straining rope-ends in a desperate Tug-of-war in which everyone's life is at stake. Each is unique and individual - yet each is so fully human that we can identify with his or her feelings and desires as our sympathies are yanked forward and back and across. In "Dinner with Friends," Margulies' accomplishes the on stage zenith that teachers of creative writing have always aimed their students toward, penning unique and therefore universal characterizations, given breath and life by four excellent actors.
  
From the earliest days of drama, the well-made play had a hero (protagonist) who struggles against forces without and within. Margulies is among the few dramatists who can successfully go a step beyond that time-tested structure. When four are equally at war, there is no hero and no villain. In the course of seven scenes, Margulies shapes our sympathies so skillfully that we never feel manipulated but rather guided. Furthermore, marvelously, we can see out of the eyes of each while simultaneously viewing him/her objectively, foibles and fabulousness all together.
Each scene has its objective. In Scene One, Karen (Lisa Emery) and Gabe (Matthew Arkin) feed their home cooked gourmet dinner to visiting friend Beth (Julie White), while they describe a recent trip to Italy with such outrageous enthusiasm for the food, we're amused and charmed. But Margulies has other fish to fry; the husband and wife complete each other's thoughts and sentences. Each is the other's real audience until Beth, gray in both dress and demeanor, finally blurts out that husband Tom (Kevin Kilner) has left her. Now Beth is center stage, her bleak tale replacing the blazing Pomodoro tomatoes of her hosts' tale.
In Scene Two, Tom returns to Beth only because their Connecticut airport shut down in a wintry storm and all the hotels are full. He bullies her into revealing that she broke their agreement; she told her side of the story first and now he will appear to be the bad guy. In a scene that has a surprise climax, both his manner and substance do drop him in general esteem, so it's to Kilner's splendid credit that he will balance Tom's driving passion for life with moments of tenderness, ultimately redeeming himself. Scene Three chronicles Tom's attempt to keep Gabe's friendship, but he's right; the quicker tale-teller has turned the tide against him.
Act II opens with a scene set 12½ years earlier, when Gabe and Karen played matchmaker, inviting their single friends, Tom and Beth, to Martha's Vineyard. We realize how mismatched they were from the first, yet see how each is seduced by the other's good looks but even more by the atmosphere set by the Vineyard and the ideal couple who project a gorgeous concept of married love.
Strong scenes of confrontation between each pair of friends follow, set half a year after the breakup. Beth realizes that Karen is as controlling as her ex, Tom. She's now fearless, articulate, and has resumed an old relationship with someone she met (ironically) soon after marrying Tom. Her beauty and joie de vivre have returned. Tom, meeting Gabe, glows as he relates how he and his new love are reshaping their lives together with well-matched physical activity - chafing Gabe into confronting himself with Karen so the final Tug-of-war may finally begin. In that last and powerful scene, the perfect couple attempts to face the pain of seeing how they have changed.
Each of the performers in this magnificent ensemble has entered into a difficult role, made significant choices, and now presents a complete persona. Direction by Daniel Sullivan keeps us breathless: when have you last attended a play where nobody coughed and nobody rustled a candy wrapper? Nobody wanted to miss a word of this insightful slice into coupleship and friendship (easy with excellent sound design by Peter Fitzgerald.) Sets by Neil Patel are amazing: seven sets in seven scenes, each whirling noiselessly into view; you get your money's worth in scenery alone.
The venue is ideal; rush for tickets before it goes Broadway, losing intimacy and gaining a high ticket tariff.
Reviewed on November 11, 1999
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Produced by Mitchel Maxwell, Mark Balsam, Ted Tulchin, Victoria Maxwell, Mari Nakachi, and Steven Tulchin. Written by Donald Margulies. Directed by Daniel Sullivan. Set Design by Neil Patel. Costume Design by Jess Goldstein. Lighting Design by Rui Rita. Sound Design by Peter Fitzgerald. Music and Sound Score by Michael Roth.
CAST: Matthew Arkin (Gabe), Lisa Emery (Karen), Kevin Kilner (Tom), Julie White (Beth). Theater: Variety Arts Theatre, 110 Third Avenue at 13th Street.
Schedule: Tuesday - Friday at 8, Saturday at 3 & 8, Sunday at 3 & 7:30. Open run.
Tickets: $25-50, reserved through Telecharge: 212/239-6200.
Audience: Adult content; no discernible nudity or profanity.
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