The play is set in the dining room of a typical well-to-do household, the place where the
family assembled daily for breakfast and dinner and for any and all special occasions.
The action is comprised of a mosaic of interrelated scenes—some funny, some
touching, some rueful—which, taken together, create an in-depth portrait of a vanishing
species: the upper-middle-class WASP. The actors change roles, personalities and
ages with virtuoso skill as they portray a wide variety of characters, from little boys to
stern grandfathers, and from giggling teenage girls to Irish housemaids. Each vignette
introduces a new set of people and events; a father lectures his son on grammar and
politics; a boy returns from boarding school to discover his mother's infidelity; a senile
grandmother doesn't recognize her own sons at Christmas dinner; a daughter, her
marriage a shambles, pleads futilely to return home, etc. Dovetailing swiftly and
smoothly, the varied scenes coalesce, ultimately, into a theatrical experience of
exceptional range, compassionate humor and abundant humanity.
Rated: PG-13
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