[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize-winning play DINNER WITH FRIENDS by Donald Margulies, produced by Adriano Aragon/Foursome Productions and Peter Allas, in association with Michael Donovan.
I was a bit late to the party with this play, since it opened on April 4th. But I’m so glad I caught it, and even though it closes this weekend it’s really a must see as far as I’m concerned.
Dinner With Friends is a beautifully written story about two couples. The first introduced the other two to each other after imagining how wonderful it would be to have a couple to partner up with as they journey through their lives. It’s the perfect scenario really. But like every perfect scenario willed into existence it doesn’t usually end up at all the way we hope. The falling apart of their friends’ marriage in brutal, existence-questioning ways ends up making them doubt their own union, their motivations, and in an almost Frankenstein-like way, their purpose.
Newly married Gabe and Karen are played with absolute brilliance by Jack Esformes and Marieh Delfino. They create an utterly believable, richly drawn and deeply sweet connection to each other…the kind only your favorite and most enviable couples have. Amy Motta and Leith Burke play their friends as slightly off in some way. Funny, clever and not at all who you might let house sit for too long. Just edgy enough and charismatic enough to fascinate and beguile, but just someone you would never ever actually date yourself. A little too much…just a little.
The play flips back and forth neatly between their first idyllic weekend upstate together and the tattered aftermath of two kids and years of well-masked uncertainty. The stable, creative and loving team of Gabe and Karen are rocked by their friends’ rapid disassociation from one another. Painful at first, but then done. The cord cut as quickly as the fire was ignited. In classic sociopathic form. Gabe and Karen stand in shock at the end of it all. Clinging to each other, like children on Christmas morning realizing that Santa was not only never real, but is as dead as a doornail.
All this is so gorgeously performed by these four fantastic actors that at times I wanted to get up and hug them. Funny, vulnerable, real, heartbroken, angry, confused…they run the gamut of emotions and take us with them.
If you are able to see this group of remarkable actors and this Pulitzer Prize-winning play directed by the fabulous Peter Allas then I promise you will not be disappointed. L.A. is a theatre town, make no mistake, and plays of this calibre produced in mystical iconic places like the Zephyr Theatre in West Hollywood can only remind us of the magical nature of the most beautiful of art forms.
I loved this play. You have to see it, live theatre is the answer to everything…
Where:
The Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave.
When:
April 4 – 28, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8pm and
Sunday at 2pm
Tickets:
https://www.onstage411.com/newsite/show/play_info.asp?show_id=7070
The Cast
DINNER WITH FRIENDS features Jack Esformes (The Odyssey Theatre’s God of Carnage, NBC’s Chicago Med) as Gabe, Marieh Delfino (The Odyssey Theatre’s God of Carnage, NBC’s All About Us) as Karen, Leith Burke (Broadway’s Judgement at Nuremberg, Emmy nominee for Netflix’s Eastsiders) as Tom, and Amy Motta (The Ruskin Theatre’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile, FOX’s 9-1-1: Lone Star) as Beth. Understudies include Chala Savino for Beth/Karen and Rick Segall for Gabe/Tom.
The Team
In addition to Allas, the creative team for DINNER WITH FRIENDS includes assistant director and production stage manager Tanya Ruth, scenic designer Brad Bentz, costume designer Mylette Nora, lighting and sound designer Matt Richter, prop designer and production assistant Chris King Wong, casting is by Michael Donovan Casting – Michael Donovan, CSA and Richard Ferris, CSA, and stage manager Angelica Estevez.
DINNER WITH FRIENDS was conceived by playwright Donald Margulies and commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville. The production premiered at the 1998 Humana Festival of New American Plays and then off-Broadway in November 1999. It was later adapted for the 2001 HBO film of the same name starring Dennis Quaid, Andie MacDowell, Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette. Margulies was a 2000 Pulitzer Prize Winner for DINNER WITH FRIENDS.