The Dinner Party is Neil Simon’s
31 play, one act about marriage and divorce. It opened in 2000 and closed in 2001 after 364 performances.
Near the end of the run, actors John Ritter and Henry Winkler were replaced by
Jon Lovitz and Larry Miller. Fuller received a Tony nomination for Best
Featured Actress in a Play.
Synopsis
Simon, himself married five times, mines his own experience to create the
thematic material for this unique farce-turned-dramedy. Six unknowing guests
have RSVP'd to a dinner at a private dining room in a first-rate restaurant in
Paris. Arriving in a staggered manner, they eventually realize they are three
divorced couples--providing the makings of the farce Simon intends the first
half of the play to be. Five of them were mistaken into thinking a man they
hold in high regard (who happens to be the divorce lawyer) is hosting the
party, but he never shows up, and appearances prove to be deceiving. Claude
Pichon and Albert Donay are the first to arrive, and Claude asks what the party
is for, but Albert does not know either. As the three male guests arrive first
and the female guests later, it only gradually unfolds that they are three
divorced couples and that somebody has designs for them to be together. After
the shock wears off, the characters inevitably begin to analyze and emotionally
process their past marriages, and the play ends on a hopeful note. The play has
an upbeat ending and a positive spin on breakups and the meaning of
relationships.
