The Dining Room

The Dining Room: A.R. Gurney's dissection of upper-crust WASP life is given a fine production by director Bruce Lecure and a nimble acting ensemble of six playing 57 roles in a series of interconnected playlets. The production is graced by gentle humor and poignancy, but the energy tends to drag at times, and Gurney's writing, as proper and refined as his characters, seems to avoid deep emotions, which, when they do crop up, are quickly passed over. The result is something like the furniture that dominates the set -- stately, refined, but a bit faded.

May 6, 2004

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The Dining Room: A.R. Gurney's dissection of upper-crust WASP life is given a fine production by director Bruce Lecure and a nimble acting ensemble of six playing 57 roles in a series of interconnected playlets. The production is graced by gentle humor and poignancy, but the energy tends to drag at times, and Gurney's writing, as proper and refined as his characters, seems to avoid deep emotions, which, when they do crop up, are quickly passed over. The result is something like the furniture that dominates the set -- stately, refined, but a bit faded.

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