DINNER Is 'Served' At Bay Street Theatre 7/7-8/2 With Ruehl, Gerroll, Birney, Walton & More

"Revenge is a dish best served cold," but at this dinner party it is served frozen. Dinner, an American Premiere written by Moira Buffini, is a wicked satirical comedy, where caustic comments fly like poisonous darts across the dinner table.

When an artist, a scientist and a sexpot all end up at dinner together, the sparks ignite as this particular evening turns a celebratory event into a dinner party from hell. Dinner first premiered in November 2002 in London, at the Royal National Theatre's Loft space, and Bay Street's production represents the American Premiere.

Award-winning director David Esbjornson takes the helm for this dinner party gone awry. Mr. Esbjornson has directed premieres of plays by Edward Albee, John Belusso, Migdalia Cruz, Tony Kushner, and many more. He received an OBIE for Outstanding Direction for Hamlet and Therese Raquin, a Lucille Lortel Award for Entertaining Mr. Sloane, and Drama League Nominations for The Entertainer and Play About the Baby.

Mr. Esbjornson will oversee a talented team of actors, including Mercedes Ruehl as Paige (The Fisher King, Lost in Yonkers, Woman Before A Glass). Ms. Ruehl came to prominence in Jonathan Demme's Married to the Mob and went on to earn an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and L.A. and Chicago Film Critics Society Awards for her role in The Fisher King. Ms. Ruehl is joined by award-winning talent Daniel Gerroll as Lars (The Starter Wife, Cashmere Mafia, No Time For Comedy), J. Smith-Cameron as Wynne (As Bees In Honey Drown, Good Boys and True, Fuddy Meers) Reed Birney as Hal (Changeling, Blasted, The Savannah Disputation), Laura Campbell as Sian (Another Country, Dust, Law and Order: Criminal Intent), Brian Hutchison as Mike (Exit The King, From Up Here, The Invention of Love), and Eric Walton as the Waiter (Esoterica, Marat/Sade, And The Devil May Drag You Down).

The professional talent on stage will be backed by equal caliber off stage. The production team includes Troy Hourie as Set Designer (Black Nativity, The Dutchman, Havana is Waiting), Elizabeth Hope Clancy as Costume Designer (Passing Strange, Bobbi Boland, The Goat), Ben Stanton as Lighting Designer (Coraline, Why Torture Is Wrong And The People Who Love Them, Gingerbread House), Mark Bennett as Sound Designer (The Goat, Much Ado About Nothing, The Coast of Utopia), Kathy Fabian as Props Designer (Waiting for Godot, You're Welcome America, Pal Joey), Brian Meister as Production Manager (Viva La Vida, Rough Crossing, The Boy Friend), and Cindy Tolan as Casting Director (All My Sons, Xanadu, Avenue Q).

Dinner previews Tuesday, July 7 through Friday, July 10th, with opening night Saturday, July 11th. The show runs Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, and Sundays at 7pm, with matinees Wednesdays and Saturdays, beginning Wednesday, July 15 at 2pm and Saturdays after that at 4pm through the run.

Tickets are $55 and $65, and can be purchased online at www.baystreet.org or by calling the Box Office at 631-725-9500, or in person at the Box Office, on the Long Wharf, Sag Harbor open 11am daily.

Bay Street Theatre is a not-for-profit institution, dedicated to presenting new, classic and contemporary works of the highest quality, which challenge as well as entertain, speak to the diversity of the community and champion the human spirit. Bay Street's commitment extends to educational programs for all ages to foster the continued value of theatre as a vital art form for future generations.

Photo credit: Gary Mamay.