Auditions: Dinner With Friends - A Pulitzer Prize Winner

HLT Studio presents Dinner With Friends.
Winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
By Donald Margulies.
Directed by Tracey Holdsworth.

Rehearsals from: 11 April
Season: 2 – 5 June

Synopsis
Ever since happily-married foodies Karen and Gabe played matchmaker with their friends Beth and Tom, the two couples have been very close – holidaying at Martha’s Vineyard every summer, raising their kids and enjoying countless dinners together. One evening, while having dinner at Gabe and Karen's home, Beth tearfully drops the bombshell that husband Tom, who is away on business, wants out of their 12-year marriage. He has found someone else and wants a divorce.

Tom is furious to discover that Beth has told their friends about the looming divorce. He believes that Beth has unfairly presented herself as the wronged party and garnered the sympathy of their friends. He rushes to Gabe and Karen's home to present his own side of the story. From then both couples' lives begin to veer in opposite directions. We gain an insight into where it all began through a flashback, when newly-weds Karen and Gabe first introduce Beth to Tom. We see how Tom and Beth's breakup affects Gabe and Karen, who first feel compelled to choose sides, and then begin to question their own relationship and that with their close friends.

Characters
All four actors will need an average stage age of anywhere between 30 – 50. Generic American accents will be required. Over the course of the play, both couples are seen at different ages and emotional stages of their lives.

Karen & Gabe
Karen and Gabe have been together since their 20’s and happily married for around 13 years with two children. They are both dedicated foodies and share careers as international food writers. Food also plays a central role in their social lives – creating delicious meals and sharing with friends.

Karen
Karen is an organiser managing home, family and a career. She considers herself close friends first with Beth and then with Tom. On the surface she is strong but there are layers of vulnerability that may make the audience question her confidence.

Gabe
Gabe seems to be the more laid back one of the couple. He lives an orderly and structured life and loves writing about food for a living. He and Karen seem perfectly matched, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. They know one another so well that their conversations overlap and they often finish one another’s sentences. Gabe is close friends with Tom who he has known since college.

Beth & Tom
Beth and Tom have been married for around 12 years, introduced by Karen and Gabe. They have two children of a similar ages to Karen and Gabe’s children. The two families are close.

Beth
Beth is Karen’s best friend. She considers herself creative and met Karen working in publishing. She is an artist of dubious talent and has an interest in new age practices like yoga, meditation etc. She is also the antithesis of Karen - she can’t cook, is totally disorganised and leans more on her emotions to direct her life than on her rational thoughts.

Tom
Tom is a lawyer and a college friend of Gabe’s. He’s also the estranged husband of Beth who is having an affair with his travel agent. On the surface he could be classified as a ladies’ man, which he admits was a role he played in his youth. But there is more to him than meets the eye – vulnerability and a conflict of duty over personal fulfilment.

Please note: This play contains scenes of intimacy between the characters. HLT Studio observes the Equity NZ Intimacy Guidelines for Stage and Screen and will engage an Intimacy Co-ordinator to support this production. More info https://equity.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Equity-NZ-Intimacy-Guidelines_2020_v2.pdf

For a copy of the script, email info@hlt.org.nz.

To register for the audition or for further information regarding this play, please email the director at: traceyholdsworth@outlook.co.nz.