Dinner with Friends at Attic Salt Theatre Arts Space
Donald Margulies’ intimate dramedy Dinner with Friends is a fairly ideal fit for the close quarters of the Attic Salt Theatre Arts Space. Seated mere feet from the cast of four as they channel wrought emotions frequently (and realistically) tinged with a generous amount of humor, audience members are treated to an intense yet rewarding glimpse at love and marriage that reduces the distance to inches.
The Pulitzer Prize-winner centers on the complex dynamic between married couples Karen and Gabe & Beth and Tom. While the former seem to have the perfect life, a solo Beth shocks her pals at the end of a deluxe meal with the news that she and Tom are getting divorced. The revelation sends shockwaves through what was perceived to be a solid 12-year unified front between the quartet, and inspires a range of feelings that the gifted actors are more than capable of conveying.
Conceivably bringing relevant portions of their own history to the production, real-life married couple Lara Hollaway and Matt Edwardsen are excellent as Karen and Gabe, quasi-pretentious foodies and food writers whose confidence takes a noticeable dip in the aftermath of Beth’s bomb. In arguably the play’s most difficult role, Christy Montesdeoca ably handles the anguish of a wife being left for another woman and, later, one who gets her groove back. After some distracting silent line-parroting in her first scene with Jeff Catanese’s Tom, she sheds the tic and nicely settles in to the challenging part, including a convincing New Age persona in the flashback that opens the second act.
Honest and raw, Dinner with Friends is the kind of material that calls for a director being hunkered down with the cast, and in that capacity Catanese doesn’t disappoint. The last of the foursome to appear, his Tom is equal parts caustic and lovable, and also gradually earns audience sympathy as he presents information that suggests Beth is less innocent than she claims. Catanese’s charismatic performance brings out the best in his co-stars and the ensemble-wide chemistry is a testament to his hands-on direction and insightful casting.
The acting shines all the brighter amidst the modest yet apt technical elements. Basic sets convincingly portray dining rooms, living rooms, and tables at an airport and restaurant. The exception is a comparatively elaborate kitchen on stage right that’s utilized solely for the revisit of Beth and Tom’s first meeting. The room’s offset placement and a slightly dimmed lighting scheme nicely stress its existence off the chronological timeline — and one particular action hints that another bombshell may drop over the course of the play’s final scenes, resulting in a welcome added tension.
Other than a nicely curated soundtrack of late-’90s pop hits between scenes that suggest the action is set in that era, the production’s lone non-live auditory cues come courtesy of Karen and Gabe’s kids (voiced via playback by Montesdeoca’s own children, Ana Rosa and Bernardo), whose pleas for technological help travels down from an invisible upstairs, interrupting important conversations below. The simple yet bracing recordings brilliantly depict the impact that young ones can have on adult relationships and also suggest that these very adults may have more in common with their offspring than they realize.
Dinner with Friends runs through Nov. 10 at Attic Salt Theatre Arts Space. For details and tickets, visit atticsalt.org.
(Photo courtesy of Attic Salt Theatre Co.)
