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| EzraBarnes, AnnieGrier, SusanHaefner, JayWilliamThomas, SusanSlotoroff, SeanHarris Photo: Rich Wagner |
Watching the
Changing Dynamics of a Family Meal in The Dining Room
By Lauren Yarger
Several decades of family interaction play out against
the scene of The Dining Room in an
upper middle class home in A.R Gurney’s play continuing the mainstage series at
Playhouse on Park.
An ensemble cast of five actors (Ezra Barnes, Susan Haefner, Sean Harris, Jay
William Thomas, Annie Grier, and Susan Slotoroff) portrays multiples characters
in 18 vignettes with timelines sometimes overlapping. The posh dining room
(simply set by Christopher Hoyt and lighted by Christopher Jones ) is the focus
for all the scenes.
The first has a
brother and sister quibbling about who will get the dining room set following
the breakup of the household. We discover the dining room has witnessed a
number of sibling moments over the years, including a brother and sister trying
desperately to win the attention and approval of their uninterested and
exacting father.
There also is a son
who discovers his mother’s affair, two school friends raiding the family’s
liquor supply while parents are gone, a rebellious daughter who stands up to
her mother’s social demands, a woman who irks her husband by not showing proper
respect for the antique table by pounding away at a typewriter to complete her
master’s thesis and a poignant meeting as a father relays instructions for his
funeral (including, of course, bringing guests back to the dining room for
food) to his loving son.
We also meet a string
of maids who serve and clear endless tea times, meals and special occasions.
Through them, Gurney most notably makes his commentary about the vanishing
culture of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. The play has a nostalgic, sad feeling
in the vein of looking at fading scenes from American life, with a few moments
of humor included. (A couple of women seated nearby squealed with delight and
laughter throughout, so maybe there are more than just a few moments).
This production is
hard to stage because of the many roles being played by the same actors. While
Director Sasha Bratt aids the process by using actors who don’t like each
other, it isn’t enough to overcome a sense of confusion despite some costuming
hints (like aprons for the maids) by Demara
Cabera.
At intermission,
audience members were asking each other who was who and trying to figure out
the relationships between them. “No, that couldn’t have been his mother,” one
woman argued, “because she was his sister….” “No, that was the other family,” said another
audience member trying to help. “No, no, that was the same people, only in the
past,” offered another.
The show program does
include character identification and a scene breakdown, which are helpful, but
there needs to be sharper differentiation between characters and tighter definition
between current and past times, often taking place simultaneously on stage, to
avoid head scratching.
Standing out is
Haefner in the role of a maid (we see her age and change in demeanor over the
years) and as “Aunt Harriet” giving her photographer nephew, Tony, lessons
table etiquette, so he can capture this wonder of the past for his archeology
term paper.
See it through March 8 at Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford.-860-523-5900 x10; www.playhouseonpark.org.
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