The piece is a staple of many community and university theatre programs because it offers a variety of meaty roles that can be handled by a relatively small group of actors — with each thespian taking on several different roles.
Set in New England in the mid-20th century, The Dining Room allows the viewer a glimpse into a way of life that has largely disappeared, along with the upper middle class WASP figures that are at the centre of the work.
In scenes played out in the room where family life was centered, lives unfold before the audience over a period of time. Viewers experience the shock of seeing infidelity negotiated at the dining table and the sadness of the family matriarch, suffering from dementia, who fails to recognize her own sons and insists at Christmas dinner on being taken to her real home.
Director Reid Mowat has assigned his cast multiple roles which allows them to play a range of types, from little boys to stern grandfathers and from giggling teenaged girls to stoic Irish housemaids.
Among the actors stretching their skills and practicing their abilities at quick costume changes are Caroline Stean, Kumar Kapasi, Jennifer Norman, Randy Bridge, Alicia Sumar, Greg Proctor, Michelle Martinez, Rob Long and Janis Gibbs. Sean Sosnowski plays the psychiatrist.
The production opens tonight at the Burnhamthorpe Theatre with additional shows at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday and then next Thursday Friday and Saturday (Nov. 13-15). There is a matinee this Sunday at 2 p.m.
Tickets cost $20 for adults and $17 for seniors, students and groups of 10 or more. Call 905-812-1759.
jstewart@mississauga.net
