Redwood Curtain's 'Dinner with Friends' a filling meal

Monica Hubbard
FOR THE TIMES-STANDARD
Thursday, November 7, 2002

Want to have a good laugh? Go see a play... about divorce. Granted, divorce and comedy aren't generally equated in my mind -- clearly, I am not Donald Margulies. Luckily for us all, someone else is -- and he has a wicked sense of humor. His play "Dinner with Friends," currently playing at the Redwood Curtain, is an honest, compelling, and, of course, funny look at family and friends in the age of divorce and dissent.

Karen and Gabe are perfect. They are smart, attractive, and they cook really well. They have a house in Connecticut, another on Martha's Vineyard, two whiny children, and wonderful taste. Their friends, Tom and Beth (who they set up), are not quite as perfect. They have a house, two kids, can't cook, and don't have nearly as good of taste. They do, however, have one thing that Karen and Gabe don't have -- a divorce.

The two couples have been friends for years; going on vacations, raising children, eating. Naturally, when Beth drops the bomb right before dessert that Tom is leaving her for another woman, Karen and Gabe are shocked. In the hours that follow, tears are shed, voices raised, and allegiances formed and broken. If this could happen so easily to their closest friends, what does it say about Karen and Gabe?

This is a play about expectation, failure, friendship, and the very blurred lines between love, lust, and hatred. Margulies has painted intelligent, wonderful characters full to the brim with human frailty and need, and manages to breathe new life and humor into a subject that is too familiar to be taken lightly and too common to be ignored. This is a play that is human enough not to have a happy ending, and well-crafted enough to leave you feeling hopeful. Perhaps most importantly, it is written with a keen wit that allows for laugh-out-loud humor without detracting from the pain and confusion of everyday life.

Redwood Curtain's production is cohesive, well-designed, and well executed. Director James Floss and his team have provided a complete vision that sevres the world of the play, and they have done it with ease and style.

One of the biggest stars in this production goes to the set, designed by Francis Marsh. The painted floor and artist: studio back-drop to the double duty of echoing the very important themes of art and food, and providing a varied landscape for the many locations demanded by the script.

The backdrop also serves as a screen for projections that make time and place clear, in addition to providing another artistic venue. Along with the (sound design by Jon Turney), the slides of various art pieces before each scene help to set the mood and the style of the show quite nicely, although the superimposed images of the actors seems unnecessary, distracting, and not on par with the rest of the production elements.

The lighting is simple and effective. Michael Burkhart moves us smoothly and clearly from one location and mood to another while never neglecting the particularly hard task of designing for an audience that surrounds the stage on three of its sides. The costumes by Kevin Sharkey suit the particular characters nicely; and the younger, flashback versions of the actors are very convincing.

The actors themselves are also quite impressive. Bonnie Bareilles as Karen is particularly strong, but everyone in the ensemble holds up their end of the bargain. Ms. Bareilles, Ron Halverson (Gabe), Terry Desch (Beth), and Larry Fried (Tom), all bring much needed depth and range to their performances. Mr. Fried's Tom at times seems overly smarmy and toes the line of being too easy a villain, but escapes this fate narrowly to provide us with a more multi-faceted version. Terry Desch's control of the emotionally tumultuous Beth is excellent, and Ron Halverson's Gabe provides just the steady influence that the play needs.

The team at Redwood Curtain have taken a superb script and translated it into a wonderful production. As a season closer this was an excellent choice, and I find myself waiting for next season with happy anticipation. "Dinner with Friends" plays at the Redwood Curtain through Nov. 23. See the Week Ahead for more infomation.