Dinner With Friends
Oct. 27th, 2003 09:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidIn the last half a week or so, I have not only had the opportunity to have dinner with friends (*much* appreciated, in all cases), but saw Dinner With Friends (Donald Margulies), a play at Chelsea's TheatreZone.
Not surprisingly, this is a play with food in it, and upscale food at that (the second play in a week where the cast ate interesting food on stage), but of course the food is secondary to the story of two couples, one in the process of breaking up, which challenges the other not only about taking sides, but looking at their own relationship for cracks. It's a well-written play, with a lot of funny (some ruefully so) lines.
The theater space is new as a theater, just renovated from an old post office/Odd Fellows hall (I know they're some sort of fraternal organization, but the name always cracks me up), so it's not a typical box of a space. On the other side from the entrance, there's a gallery where some closed-off staircase goes. And the ceiling is beautifully molded in decorated squares and rectangles. The seats all seem to creak when changing position. But the floors are beautiful, and they now have a curtain... it's a place in process.
The set had a lot more pictures on walls than I've seen used before, which helped the set... except when they were a bit crooked. And it didn't help that I didn't care for much of the art, either. Otherwise, it was a pretty standard sort of set. The lighting was decent, showing just enough after lamps or other lights onstage were turned off. And sound was used to create four off-stage kids and a dog.
The acting was mixed. It didn't keep the play from shining through, but a couple of the actors didn't quite hit the mark in a couple of scenes. Still, most of the time they were good. And the orker who was in it is as talented as I'd suspected, which is cool.
Oh, and it was exciting getting to Chelsea, in that I finally have an idea how to do it again without checking a map, and there are still cobblestoned streets to drive over. It was exciting getting back, since I thought I couldn't make a left where I needed to, so got a little tour of the odd intersections one can find in Chelsea. Even for Boston, there were some funky ones.
Note for those who have a Circle of Friends card: this theater only takes the twofer pass at the door, not for advance sales.
Not surprisingly, this is a play with food in it, and upscale food at that (the second play in a week where the cast ate interesting food on stage), but of course the food is secondary to the story of two couples, one in the process of breaking up, which challenges the other not only about taking sides, but looking at their own relationship for cracks. It's a well-written play, with a lot of funny (some ruefully so) lines.
The theater space is new as a theater, just renovated from an old post office/Odd Fellows hall (I know they're some sort of fraternal organization, but the name always cracks me up), so it's not a typical box of a space. On the other side from the entrance, there's a gallery where some closed-off staircase goes. And the ceiling is beautifully molded in decorated squares and rectangles. The seats all seem to creak when changing position. But the floors are beautiful, and they now have a curtain... it's a place in process.
The set had a lot more pictures on walls than I've seen used before, which helped the set... except when they were a bit crooked. And it didn't help that I didn't care for much of the art, either. Otherwise, it was a pretty standard sort of set. The lighting was decent, showing just enough after lamps or other lights onstage were turned off. And sound was used to create four off-stage kids and a dog.
The acting was mixed. It didn't keep the play from shining through, but a couple of the actors didn't quite hit the mark in a couple of scenes. Still, most of the time they were good. And the orker who was in it is as talented as I'd suspected, which is cool.
Oh, and it was exciting getting to Chelsea, in that I finally have an idea how to do it again without checking a map, and there are still cobblestoned streets to drive over. It was exciting getting back, since I thought I couldn't make a left where I needed to, so got a little tour of the odd intersections one can find in Chelsea. Even for Boston, there were some funky ones.
Note for those who have a Circle of Friends card: this theater only takes the twofer pass at the door, not for advance sales.