All the World's a Stage

Professor Jeff Wax of the drama department here at Lone Star College – CyFair came to LIFE and turned upside down our concept of what acting is. All you need for acting is a doer, a watcher, and a place. Thus, all the world truly is a stage. And I guess William Shakespeare knew what he was talking about. Jeff even invited two of us to perform! We are excited to see the college performance of the Pulitzer prize-winning play Dinner with Friends by Donald Margulies which features two of Jeff’s students, a professional actress from U of H and our own speech professor Patrick Barton. Here is a picture taken by Jeff at dress rehearsal last night.

Here is what Jeff wrote to his colleagues describing the upcoming performances:

Dear Colleagues,

Our production of Dinner With Friends opens this coming Friday in the Black Box Theater.  There are four performances of the play:

• Friday, April 11th at 7:30PM
• Saturday, April 12th at 2:00PM
• Saturday, April 12th at 7:30PM
• Sunday, April 13th at 3:00PM

THE PLAY:  Donald Margulies’s Pulitzer prize winning play Dinner with Friends, is a deceptively straightforward, rueful suburban comedy about friendship, divorce and the minefield of middle age; a play that taps into the collective psyches of those of us who came of age in the ’70s.” Gabe and Karen, and Beth and Tom are two married couples whose lives have become inseparable - raising kids together, holidays together and enjoying countless dinner parties - until the day one marriage unexpectedly crumbles. Suddenly the four are forced to investigate their friendship as a group and as individuals, and examine the relationships within their own marriages. What initially seems a rather conventional glimpse at the perils of breaking up becomes an original examination of the terrors of staying together. In short, Dinner with Friends is a modern masterpiece about the path you choose, the millions you don’t and the detours that make it worth the ride.  *Recommended for mature audiences only.*

Please invite your students to attend this wonderful production, which I am confident will provide the opportunity for a stimulating conversation in your classes. Dinner With Friends is so unassuming and beautifully constructed.  It examines the dynamics of old friends, allegiances, love, endurance and the differences we all have faced with crisis.  Flee or fight?  Seek comfort from another or seek solace in solitude?  Blow things up and start over or rebuild what is broken.  It’s about expectations.  It’s about defining and sorting through which ties bind and which ties don’t.  It immerses us in the drama of everyday life. We appreciatively and effortlessly take the ride.  

Dinner With Friends features a strong cast of four actors including our own Patrick Barton.  If you have never seen a Lone Star CyFair theater production I invite you to come out and sample the quality of our work.

I look forward to seeing you at the theater.

All best,

Jeff Wax