Dinner

Moira Buffini
Exeter University Theatre Company
theSpace on the Mile

Dinner

The end of a good play is rather like the dessert course at a dinner party: while the guest might well remember fondly the delectable choices of wine and their pairings with the starter and main courses, if the last thing they see is a mess, then it’s going to put a sour taste in their mouths as they leave. It’s in such a way that, unfortunately, much of the genuinely great work done by Exeter University Theatre Company falls apart in the final moments.

The 2002 play Dinner by Moira Buffini, (originally reviewed here) is set in the dining room of a rich couple’s mansion over the course of a darkly comic dinner party, where old anger, lust, wanton hatred and suppressed desire all rear their heads amongst the guests and hosts as things spiral out of control.

The story itself works rather well for the most part, as the hosts Paige and Hal contend with each other’s ire, she with some undisclosed hidden agenda behind the hiring of a sinister butler for the evening and he with clear designs on visiting old college flame Wynn. Add to that a chalk and cheese couple who bicker relentlessly and a surprise guest in the form of a working-class truck driver broken down outside, and it’s a recipe for a lot of interesting wordplay and witty repartee as things escalate.

It’s genuinely a funny, entertaining and well executed performance, absolutely on top form for almost all of the piece. Then, at the final hurdle, it sort of all falls apart. The final moments are almost incomprehensible, and without warning the play stopped and the cast took their bows. It’s possibly a result of the play having been edited down significantly from the original 90-minute runtime, and it feels as if significant material has been excised.

In the end, the good work of all involved will still linger in the memory, but the sour taste of the messy close simply puts one off their food a little.

Reviewer: Graeme Strachan

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