The Ladysmith Little Theatre begins their show run of The Dining Room on September 19.
The Dining Room was written by A.R. Gurney and premiered in 1982. The play is a comedy of manners set in a single dining room with 18 scenes that overlap and intertwine. Throughout these scenes, the actors will transition into different characters with 6 people playing 54 parts.
“Every time one scene finishes another scene begins. Sometimes the scenes begin before the one before it is over. People will walk on while a scene is going, and they are ignored — they don’t exist for the people in the current scene,” director Mort Paul said.
Paul said that the play is like a revolving door of characters, and that people need to be “on alert” for scene changes.
The Dining Room pokes fun at upper-middle class America, and looks at sociological changes over time. It pays particular attention to roles of men and women from the 1930s to the 1980s.
“It’s about empowering people, and how memory lives,” Paul said. “The playwright structured it so that some characters carry themes with them.”
There are 12 performances in the show run. Opening night is Thursday, September 19 and the final performance is Sunday, October 6. The show runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, with Sunday afternoons for three weeks. Tickets cost $25, and $20 for theatre members or groups.
