Auditions: March 7 & 9, 2023
Sign-ups begin at 7:15 pm
Auditions: 7:30 pm
Dinner with Friends
By Donald Margulies
Performance dates: May 12 – 14 & 17 – 21, 2023
Play Description
In a way, a close, long-term friendship is like a marriage. There’s love, shared times both good and bad, a bond that grows and strengthens with time. Still, just as sometimes marriages don’t work out, even the best of friends may one day come to a point where something has to change.
Schenectady Civic Players presents Donald Margulies’ “Dinner With Friends.” Winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the play explores what can happen when a husband and wife must face a new existence when their two closest friends are themselves no longer husband and wife. Can things remain the way they were, just somewhat different? Can everyone…still be friends?
Available Roles
KAREN (30s-40s) – Wife of Gabe, she is a well-known food & drink writer and chef. Serious and straightforward, she is also fun and great company. You wouldn’t necessarily call her A-type or a control freak, but the topic might come up. Still, a loving mother of two great kids with…
GABE (30s-40s) – Husband of Karen, he is also her professional partner, successful in both roles. As a kid he was probably often referred to as a “good boy,” not ironically, who grew up to become a good man. Not as given to offering quite the analytical views as his more verbal spouse, he is nevertheless smart and supportive to her and the kids, not to mention…
TOM (30s-40s) – Husband of Beth, best friend of Gabe. He is a lawyer, unexcited about his profession, and a father, less than enthusiastic about the traditional role of family man, let alone husband. Not a bad person, though he’s certainly dabbled, but maybe he’s not being true to himself. Maybe he simply shouldn’t be with…
BETH (30s-40s) – Wife of Tom, best friend of Karen. Once worked in the publishing industry, but chose to follow her muse and paint, leading not so much to the personal fullfilment she might have expected. A good mom, so there’s that. Frayed around the edges, in need of a new dream.
Characters are of no specific race.
Note: the characters’ children do not appear on stage.
For questions, please contact the director, Sky Vogel, by email at skyvogel@aol.com.
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Schenectady Civic Players promotes inclusive casting, and encourages individuals, regardless of gender identity, race, ethnicity, or disability, to participate in the audition process.