Perfection in a relationship is nearly impossible to achieve, and yet, people still share the idea that “the perfect couple” exists. Let’s face it though: There really is no such thing as a perfect couple. The play “Dinner with Friends,” illustrates this idea as the self-reflective characters face a dark reality, forcing each individual to look within and to examine their relationships.
The Badger Herald recently spoke with play director Michael O’Rourke about the play’s central themes of marriage, friendship and relationships. With half of all marriages ending in divorce these days, the central theme of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play is pertinent to society’s disconcerting trend. He thinks the play forces the audience to reconsider the meaning of marriage in today’s hectic environment.
“It challenges any kind of standardized definition of marriage,” O’Rourke said. “On the surface it looks a little bit Disney-esque. It is the snapshot of an American dream, and then you hear [one of the characters] is having an affair.”
Written by Donald Margulies in 1998, “Dinner with Friends” offers a window into the lives of two married couples that have been close for years and the impact felt by both parties when one relationship unravels. Set in New England in the present day, Gabe and Karen, a happily married couple, transcend the mundane.
As food writers, they travel the world to experience the pleasures of international cuisine. While Gabe and Karen blaze an extravagant path, their friends Tom and Beth, who Gabe and Karen set up 12 years ago, live a seemingly ordinary life. When Beth reveals to Karen and Gabe that Tom cheated on her, all four characters are forced to scrutinize their friendships and marriages.
O’Rourke notes that Karen, Gabe, Tom and Beth each trudge through an emotional labyrinth. In hopes of piecing together their shattered world, each character feels their way through a distressful, introspective maze. Though the characters’ intricate layers may overwhelm audience members, O’Rourke’s 40-plus years of theater experience helps create a graceful flow of anguish on the stage.
“I am asking the audience to walk through the labyrinth,” O’Rourke said. “I work really hard with all of my skills on each production to absolve the line between the observed and the observer.”
O’Rourke aims to dissolve the line between the audience and the actors by using arena seating. With four or five locations of seating placed closely around the stage, he finds that observers will not only see the tense body language but also feel apart of the familial strife.
While the audience intimately observes the two couples at their most bare, tense moments, actor Matthew Korda who plays Gabe, believes the drama provides a peek inside a couple’s interactions.
“We get a look inside the private life of a couple … that no one ever sees,” Korda said. “The audience will have some sort of connection, even if it wasn’t marriage, the relationship dynamics are similar.”
Even the actors share a connection with the characters in the drama; some used personal experiences to prepare for their roles. As a means to simulate the camaraderie associated with dining with friends, the actors held a potluck once a week. Baking a lemon polenta cake together, which is eaten in the play, gave the actors a concrete reference.
While food’s communal undertones provide a sense of comfort and nourishment, friends and family do as well. The title of the play, “Dinner with Friends,” is simple, yet means something different for everyone. In the context of this play, the bleak meaning contrasts the typical conversation friends would have over dinner.
“The simplicity of the title is filled with nuances of meaning,” O’Rourke said. “Everyone has had dinner with friends. [The title] has a commonality to bring people into theater.”
The production’s interwoven theme of love appeals to many as O’Rourke references the wise words of the Hindu yogi, Yogananda,”each of us has to perfect love with one person in this life.”
While no couple is perfect, “Dinner with Friends” reminds people that perfecting love with another is worth the occasional chaos and discord.
The Madison Theatre Guild presents “Dinner with Friends” running Feb.18-March 5 in The Evjue Theatre at The Bartell (113 East Mifflin Street). Tickets can be purchased online at http://madisontheatreguild.org or at The Bartell lobby one hour prior to the show for $15.
Correction: Due to editing errors, the meal the cast of “Dinner with Friends” baked together, which is eaten during the play, is lemon polenta cake. Yogananda is a Hindu Yogi. We regret the errors.
