The Observer, November 9, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 10
PTG makes The Dining Room second successful show this semester
"How do rooms come to mean so much to us? What happens to the dynamic of a family when certain rooms take on personalities of their own? Do we adapt our family roles from one room to the next?" Kate Duval, director of the Players' Theatre Group's (PTG) latest production, The Dining Room, posed these thought-provoking questions in her director's note. After seeing this amazing production last Sunday, these inquiries stuck with me for hours afterward.
Written by A.J. Gurney in 1981, The Dining Room is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of multiple families from the WASP culture of the Northeast. If ran for three performances last weekend. Many families are visited throughout the one-act play, and all scenes take place in a dining room. The play only involves six actors, with each actor playing numerous different roles. The only constant from scene to scene is the dining room itself, as all the characters' stories are related through the room, with "the actors becoming the props," as Duval mentions in her note.
The six actors of the show did quite a credible job. Every time the scene shifted from family to family, the actors completely adapted to their new character, leaving no semblance of the former. Consisting of four sophomores (Paul Salamon, Sarah Franjoine, Allison Jane Balloon, and Max Sills), one freshman (Kayla Fenstermaker), and one junior (Chad Fusco), this small cast worked very well together. None of their interactions were strained or forced.
Standout scenes included a scene involving a father, his wife, their two children, and their maid, where the father steels himself to go down to "the club" and defend his friend's honor. The family sees him off, as though he were a soldier, heading off to a war overseas. The mock seriousness is quite comical. Also, there is a scene between Salamon and Balloon, where Salamon portrays a repairman attempting to fix Balloon's table. The mild flirtation between the two was played to its fullest, most awkward extent, resulting in the audience's full emotional investment.
The final scene of the play is also quite striking. Balloon has a monologue about the perfect dinner party, after which the party of her dreams takes place, with all the actors coming on stage, making small talk as the lights dim and the music rises. The scene was executed perfectly, marking a great end to a great production.
PTG is an entirely student-run theater group here on campus. To get involved and to receive more information about upcoming show dates and tryouts, e-mail Tim Koch at timothy.koch@case.edu.
