PRC to Open 3rd Show of Season

An evening of "Dinner with Friends" is on the PlayMakers menu.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning off-Broadway comedy by Donald Margulies, the play depicts the life cycle of two couples struggling with personal communication in a modern world.

"This play is about contemporary isolation of the individual in modern America," said PlayMakers Artistic Director David Hammond.

Karen, Tom, Beth and Gabe, the four characters who share dinners and carpools, concerns and insecurities, will be played by Tandy Cronyn, Ray Dooley, Jessica Peterson and Kenneth Strong, respectively.

Opening Jan. 15 at Paul Green Theatre, "Dinner with Friends" boasts a cast with varied and notable experience.

Cronyn acted in PlayMakers renditions of "The Laramie Project," "Our Town" and "Wit." She has taken on many other roles, including that of Sally Bowles in Broadway's "Cabaret."

Dooley and Strong long have been part of PlayMakers, both recently appearing in "Sunrise in my Pocket."

Making her PlayMakers debut, Peterson is backed by a history of stage, film and television acting.

But director Drew Barr said the actors nonetheless are being challenged by their roles.

"The actors are all, on many levels, really being able to see themselves in the characters they're playing," Barr said.

"And they're able to go to deep places."

Barr, who has directed everything from musicals to Shakespeare, said "Dinner with Friends" gains its pertinence from universal themes.

"(The play) is a world that many people can identify with," he said.

"It's a recognizable portrait of life today."

But the story is more complex than just a look at marriage, life and friendship, Barr said.

"There's much more to the play than meets the eye."

When the story takes an unexpected turn and the confidence of the characters is shaken, "Dinner" asks how we can be sure we truly are communicating with each other.

Questions about the amount of human contact present in daily life constitute much of what arises from the play, said Hammond.

Having made the choice to include "Dinner" in the PlayMakers repertoire, Hammond said, these ultimately unanswered questions are ones he hopes the audience will use as food for thought.

"I hope that (audience members) will want to talk to each other more ... That (the play) will help them cherish their humanity -- to put down the cell phone," he said.

"Dinner with Friends" will run at Paul Green Theatre until Feb. 9. Single tickets range from $9 to $27, with opening-night tickets priced at $34. Call 919-962-PLAY for tickets or for more information.

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.