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Theatre & Box Office |
Reprinted with permission of The Times of Northwest Indiana. 'Dinner with Friends' provides a fun night out Having "Dinner with Friends" at the Chicago Street Theatre is an ideal night out for couples in any phase of their relationship in the eyes of Community Theatre Guild director Deb Weiss. "It's a great date play," she said. "It creates opportunities for all kinds of conversation, and the experiences that these people are going through on stage are pretty universal. All of us have either had them in our own lives or have seen family and friends go through them." Opening today and running through May 22, "Dinner" tells the story of Tom and Beth, who are divorcing after a dozen years of marriage. The announcement of their split comes as a shock to Gabe and Karen, Tom and Beth's longtime friends who introduced the couple to each other. The play was penned in 2000 by Donald Margulies, who won a Pulitzer for the drama the year that it opened. Debuting in Paris before making its way to the author's New York home base, "Dinner" made its way to the small screen with Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell starring in a production aired on HBO. In "Dinner," both couples are well-to-do in their careers. Yet in the end, their upper middle class status can't save Tom and Beth's marriage, according to Weiss. "In spite of having all the things they think they want, they can't ultimately have any more spiritual happiness," she said. "All their material success doesn't give them the guarantee of a perfect life or happiness." Directing with Stan Christianson, who brought "Dinner" to the Community Theatre Guild's attention, approximately 30 actors turned out to audition for the four roles in the play. After no small amount of soul searching, the directors selected Dan Matern from Merrillville to play Tom, Valparaiso's Patricia Bird as Beth, Jay Williams from LaPorte as Gabe and Michigan City's Karla Van Winkle, who is making her Community Theatre Guild debut as Karen. "We had a lot of incredible people who turned out to audition for this, but we had to select on more than just the talent or the zest for the part," Weiss said. "We had to select four people who looked good together and worked well together. They had to be right for each other as well as right for the part. It's always a difficult choice to make when you cast a play, and it was especially difficult this time." Even though "Dinner" has a small cast compared to previous Community Theatre Guild productions, Weiss said bringing the drama to the stage hardly is a walk in the park, especially for the four actors. "Each actor carries so much and has to do so much," she said. "We have to ask a lot from them. We have to take the talent and energy that these people have and really get it to work on stage, and Stan and I have been really blessed with a really wonderful cast." Due to strong language and adult subject matter, "Dinner with Friends" is geared towards mature audiences. "Dinner with Friends" is running at Chicago Street Theatre at 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, May 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday and May 16. Next up for the Community Theatre Guild is a production of the musical "Working." Opening at Chicago Street Theatre June 25, "Working," which is based on the book by Studs Terkel, will close the Guild's 49th season. "Dinner with Friends" |