The title character is the star of the always-dependable Keen Company's wonderfully staged revival of A.R. Gurney's The Dining Room. Spanning almost the entire 20th century, the room, in a house somewhere in an upper-middle class New England suburb, offers snapshots of lives of the various people and families that dwell there.
The play is actually a series of vignettes, some connected, some not, but each perfectly formed with characters that seem real and alive. Among the segments we see are an overbearing father trying to enforce his idea of perfect order on his young children; a pair of parents, each of whom are married to someone else, trying to find the courage to break free of their unhappy lives; an architect trying to demolish the dining room, because one just like it in his childhood contained so many unhappy memories; and a father planning his own funeral.
If there's a common theme in the work, it's the oppressiveness and conservatism of this social strata, which causes many of those caught up in it to try to rebel—to varying degrees. This message is conveyed subtly, with no hitting one over the head with dialogue in an effort simply to make a point. Indeed, the entire script is razor-sharp. Whether watching a somewhat farcical or deeply poignant scene or, as is usually the case, a look at the effects of everyday life, it all works, without a single false note to be seen.
Another theme here, one that's present in many of Gurney's works, is the theme of class. Servants, no matter how nice they may be treated by their employers, are still servants and there's always a divide between the two groups—one that really can't be bridged, now matter how hard an employer may try from time to time.
The cast of six (Dan Daily, Claire Lautier, Mark J. Sullivan, Samantha Soule, Anne McDonough, Timothy McCracken) all play multiple roles effortlessly, switching characters at the drop of a hat. Especially impressive is the way the actors are able to bring the proper look and sense of age to the various characters, ranging from exuberant children at a birthday party to grandparents with the infirmities that come with years.
Direction by Jonathan Silverstein also works well, keeping the work moving very strongly, with no dead spaces or too much extraneous business. The set by Dana Moran Williams fits perfectly with the story, as does the lighting by Josh Bradford.
Extremely detailed yet refreshingly simple, The Dining Room offers a multi-course feast on an experience which, for better or worse, is becoming a vanishing tradition—and it's a production which should be enjoyed by as many people as possible before the last course is served.
The Dining Room
Presented by The Keen Company
Harold Clurman Theatre
Theater Row Studios
410 West 42nd Street
Tickets: 212-279-4200 or www.ticketcentral.com
Closes: October 20, 2007
Judd Hollander is the New York correspondent for the London publication The Stage.
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