The Dinner Party

The Dinner Party, one of Neil Simon’s more recent plays, was certainly different than most of his work. Part farce and part serious commentary on marriage and divorce the play was unusual in this respect but remained enjoyable throughout albeit somewhat frustrating at the end.  The word stylish comes to mind since the set was extremely well conceived as a private dining room in an upmarket restaurant. The shield-back chairs and dining table would have graced any dining room and the addition of a small chaise and sideboard for drinks added even more sophistication. With the central double doors and a side door stage left, with red drapes in between there was indeed a restaurant feel to the acting area. 

For the first half of the pre-interval act the men had the stage to themselves and characterization clearly emerged.  Kenton Church as Claude Pichon, the antique book dealer, was smart but frustrated, unfulfilled, perhaps sharing that characteristic with the other male characters. But whereas Pichon was superior and aloof in some way Bob Ryall’s Albert Donay was slightly downtrodden, eager to please yet sad. It was this sadness that elicited the most empathy from the audience and which yielded the best laughs. Slow to take the hint and clearly unworldly in a very likeable way how we laughed when Albert not only went to the gents for the third time to leave the other guests some private time but also admitted that he didn’t know what to do when he got there. His pleas for more time to create his story about what he loved about his former wife also rang true.  Whereas Albert seemed honest and down-to-earth, Roger Saddington’s Andre was arrogant, an intellectual snob and aloof, although both men seemed unfulfilled. Andre’s sharp put downs were funny but especially because we knew Albert rarely understood them and therefore we didn’t have to feel guilty at the laugh. The differentiation between these characters was very good and the pace and fluency of delivery excellent.

The ladies had a little less to do since they were not on stage as long and yet the characters were also strong and cleverly matched to that of their former husbands, with the exception of Gabrielle perhaps.   Caroline Froy as Mariette was unassuming, yet successful, clearly living the dream that Claude would have liked for himself. Jean Speller’s Yvonne had the endearing quality of making irrational things sound rational and yet there was nothing irrational about the dialogue about croissants and coffee. The potential to love too much and stifle the recipient seemed to strike a chord with the audience. Finally, the enigmatic Gabrielle, played by Helen Quigley, was in some ways the most desperate. Manipulative yet submissive to her husband’s every sordid whim her dependence on Andre was matched only by Andre’s guilt at taking advantage. Perhaps we were not surprised that Andre was the only man not to take his seat at the Dinner Party.

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