Second Sunday Dinner Theatre 


This amateur but wonderful acting group has been going now since December, 1973. 

Stephen and I are very fortunate to be members of the Second Sunday Dinner Theatre since 1997. This is a group of people who for three decades have been meeting once a month in each other's homes to share conversation, food and the works of various playwrights.

In March, Stephen was director and I hosted about 25 people here in our home. You can see a blurred out picture of tonight's performance of John Guare's "The General of Hot Desire." We were doing three of the seven plays in the collection Love's Fire by The Acting Company. Each play is inspired by a Shakespearian sonnet. The other two were Wendy Wasserstein's "Waiting for Philip Glass" and Eric Bogosian's "Bitter Sauce."

"The General of Hot Desire" presents eight college students ruminating over the meaning of Shakespearian sonnets 153 and 154, consulting their resources, all the way from Cliff notes to Helen Vendler's The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Eros, death, and the history of God's interaction with humans are the topics of discussion. As the action moves forward, the students begin to take on the central characters of the historical drama. We find out from the character Stephen, who is playing God, that God never intended humans to live in a Garden of Eden, and just wants to get some sleep. But humans keep pestering him. God sent Judas to get rid of Jesus, Who refuses to die. The post-adolescent squabbling over meaning and love goes on and on and ends with the cast leaving in discord—a state with which God is well pleased.

The way you get into a group is to get invited and to come back for a total of three times. Then, if no one objects, you are invited to become members. We owe our membership to three friends from Trinity Episcopal Church who sponsored us.

Once you become a member, you are expected to participate fully in the life of the group. There is a secretary whose membership rotates alphabetically every six months, and who keeps track of who is doing what when. Every month someone is host and someone is director. The job of the host is to arrange for potluck contributions from the members in four categories of appetizer, salad, entree or desert, and to open either their own home or someone else's home to the group. The job of the director is to select the evening's entertainment, which can be one longer play or a number of one act plays, to cast the play from the group membership, and to rehearse the play, usually on the day before. Members are expected to take offers to perform seriously and to do their share, and directors are encouraged to give all an acting opportunity.

While there is some friendly difference of opinion on this matter, the group is more of a play reading group. We simply read from our scripts, and keep action to a minimum. We do, however, try to read the scripts expressively, and to follow the director's instructions, and some directors will have more props, sound effects, blocking and moves than others. In any case, the point is not to produce a polished performance, but rather just a group reading and appreciation of the selected plays. Since our group members attend a lot of theatre, the result is usually an enjoyable experience for most. We also sometimes have discussion of the play after the performance. We gather for appetizers about 5:30 p.m. After 45 minutes or so of conversation and exchanging information from the month before, the first "act" is read. This is followed by a potluck dinner, and I have to tell you, we have some good cooks in this group. Then the second "act" is read, usually a bit shorter, but not always, and finally we have desert and coffee. We get home between 10 and 11:30 p.m.

How to include quality personal relationships in one's life in a balanced way is often a tricky bicycle to ride, but we do it in this group. We've made some wonderful friends here. These are people who read a good newspaper every day, and who have seen the latest plays and movies that come to town. We also have some very vocal liberals in the group, but we do not all share the same political persuasions. I must say that is a refreshing heterogeneity for me. The group is aging, too. We have lost a few folks over the years; they have died, or moved to a retirement community, or to live closer to children and grand children. We are, or try to be, consistent with life's demands and challenges, a routing section for each other.

I have undertaken to put on the web a complete database of all the plays, play writers, hosts and directors for the last 30 + years. We have brought to life an astonishing list of theatrical pieces over this time period. To take just a few examples: Albee, Coward, Durang, Gurney, Mamet, Miller, Shaw, and Simon have all received well over six performances each over the decades. A total of over 240 playwrights have had works performed by the Second Sunday Dinner Theatre. If you would like to examine the searchable database for this group, it is online at play.performances. Enter your name and the password is the word play. You may have to click the reload button.

Sonnet 153

Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep.
A maid of Dian's this advantage found.
And his love-kindling fire did quickly steep
In a cold valley-fountain of that ground,
Which borrow's from this holy fire of Love
A dateless lively heat, still to endure,
And grew a seething bath, which yet men prove
Against strange maladies a sovereign cure.
But at my mistress' eye Love's brand new-fired,
The boy for trial needs would touch my breast.
I, sick withal, the help of bath desired,
And thither hied, a sad distemper'd guest,
But found no cure: The bath for my help lies
Where Cupid got new fire: my mistress' eyes.

William Shakespeare


 

Posted: Sat - March 11, 2006 at 09:57 PM          

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