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Auditions | Show Dates | Cast & Crew

Read the review in the Register-Guard, August 3, 2010
"‘Dinner With Friends’ is an honest look at real life"

        The Very Little Theatre concludes its 81st season with a three-week run of Dinner with Friends, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Donald Margulies. This candid, often-funny comedy/drama explores the bittersweet side of friendship through the eyes of two best-friend married couples. Invited to dinner at the suburban home of husband-and-wife food critics Gabe and Karen, Beth reveals she’s breaking up with her husband Tom after 12 years of marriage and two children.

        Tom, who had been away on business, finds out that Beth has told their friends about the looming divorce, and hastens to Gabe and Karen's home. Tom and Beth had planned to tell their friends about their breakup together, but Tom now believes that Beth has unfairly presented herself as the wronged party, and feels he must present his own side of the story.

        The unexpected revelation forces Gabe and Karen, who at first feel compelled to choose sides, to reevaluate their seemingly perfect relationship. The effects of Tom and Beth's breakup on Gabe and Karen cause them to begin to question their friendship with two people who seem to be refusing the life they all once worked so hard to preserve.

        Over the course of the play, we see both couples at different ages and stages of their lives. The story is cleverly told through a flashback in Act 2 to the beginning of the couples’ friendship.

        Director Maggie Tryk has cast Michael Walker and Shannon Coltrane as Gabe and Karen, and Simon Strange and Leigh Holliday as their friends Tom and Beth.

        Reserved seat tickets are $14; Thrifty Thursday (August 5 and 12) prices are $10 and senior citizens may attend the Sunday matinees (August 1 and 8) for $10. The ten performances are Friday-Sunday, July 30-August 1; Thursday-Sunday, August 5-8; and Thursday-Saturday, August 12-14. Curtain is at 8 p.m. except for the 2 p.m. Sunday matinees.  An Opening Night Gala with refreshments following the show is open to all who purchase tickets to the July 30 performance.

        The box office opens on Friday, July 23, from 2-5:30 p.m. and will continue Wednesday-Saturday the following weeks. For more information on tickets, call 541-344-7751. The Very Little Theatre is located at 2350 Hilyard St., Eugene, Oregon.

“A breezy comedy of modern manners that turns poignant and deeply affecting by its end. Margulies touches chords that resonate with a deep affecting humanity.” — San Francisco Examiner

The show is about adult themes and includes some adult language and sexual references, so we do not recommend the show for children.

NOTE: The next Very Little Theatre Backstage Tour is Wednesday, July 28,  at 12:15 pm. FREE ADMISSION.

Auditions

Auditions have concluded. Please see our Auditions page for upcoming auditions for other VLT shows!

Show Dates

Box Office opens Friday, July 23. Phone: (541) 344-7751.
Hours: Wed. through Sat. 2:00-5:30 PM and ONE Hour before each performance (7:00 PM, or Sunday Matinees 1:00 PM).

Cast

Production Staff