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magidThis weekend I saw the HRDC production of Dinner (Moira Buffini) at the Loeb Ex. Not surprisingly, the story is about a dinner party, the meal starting with "primordial soup," running through a few more hideous courses and lubricated by many libations as people show more of their true selves. Black comedy, definitely. What it reminded me most of was Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner.
I enjoyed the production, even as I cringed about the food and some of the interactions. The set included a large table and many chairs, of course, but also staggered panels across the back of the stage that let characters be silhouetted when they were listening in. The actors moved the set around between scenes, the sound of African drumming and one character speaking just softly enough that the words were incomprehensible offered as a distraction to the audience.
Over the course of the meal, the news bimbette (perhaps the most clear thinking of them all) and her scientist husband argue and reconcile, the artist becomes more overt in her appreciation of the philosopher husband, and the hostess wife becomes more desperately rude to all her guests. Even the gate-crasher, crashed in the fog, who may or may not be a burglar, ends up involved. And throughout the silent waiter keeps on bringing drinks, slowly descending from cocktail glasses to Mason jars, to juice and soda bottles, to random other food containers, to shoes, to detergent bottles. After the Mason jars, they all had straws for convenient sipping. And of course, in the end, the silent waiter turns out to be hired for more than just food service. And the last-minute twist was great.
Well worth seeing if you have a strong stomach :-).
I enjoyed the production, even as I cringed about the food and some of the interactions. The set included a large table and many chairs, of course, but also staggered panels across the back of the stage that let characters be silhouetted when they were listening in. The actors moved the set around between scenes, the sound of African drumming and one character speaking just softly enough that the words were incomprehensible offered as a distraction to the audience.
Over the course of the meal, the news bimbette (perhaps the most clear thinking of them all) and her scientist husband argue and reconcile, the artist becomes more overt in her appreciation of the philosopher husband, and the hostess wife becomes more desperately rude to all her guests. Even the gate-crasher, crashed in the fog, who may or may not be a burglar, ends up involved. And throughout the silent waiter keeps on bringing drinks, slowly descending from cocktail glasses to Mason jars, to juice and soda bottles, to random other food containers, to shoes, to detergent bottles. After the Mason jars, they all had straws for convenient sipping. And of course, in the end, the silent waiter turns out to be hired for more than just food service. And the last-minute twist was great.
Well worth seeing if you have a strong stomach :-).