UA Theatre and Dance’s ‘The Dining Room’ to Open Season

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s department of theatre and dance kicks off its 2014-15 theatrical season with the Drama Desk Award-nominee “The Dining Room” Sept. 29, in the Allen Bales Theatre.

The play was written by Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominee A.R Gurney.

Some 18 scenes play out across time, telling the tale of several upper-middle class families, bound only by a matching set of dining room furniture. The show illustrates the rise and decline of white Anglo-Saxon protestant culture, and how lessons from this culture can impact Americans across a variety of social boundaries.

The New York Times calls the play “ … an overlapping and amusing anthology of vignettes about family and food, inherited and disowned values.” The company of six actors plays more than 50 unforgettable characters, all exploring the need for family, love of tradition, and the inevitable march of progress.

“Gurney’s modern drama owes much to Anton Chekhov and his famous observation, ‘People are sitting at a table having dinner, that’s all, but at the same time their happiness is being created, or their lives are being torn apart,'” said Dr. Steve Burch, UA associate professor of theatre. “In the simplest of devices, a space to stand in for all other spaces, Gurney invites us on a journey into our own lives, our families and friends; a journey which may end in empathy and surprise.”

The Dining Room is suitable for most audiences but most enjoyable for those 16 and older. The play runs through Oct. 5.

Tickets are $14 for students, $17 for UA Faculty/Staff & Seniors and $20 for Adults. Tickets are available through the department’s website at theatre.ua.edu, the box office at 205/348-3400 or at the door.

UA’s department of theatre and dance is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships, Truman Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.