BWW Review: CALENDAR GIRLS at Des Moines Playhouse
by DC Felton
- Jun 8, 2022
What did our critic think of Calendar Girls at Des Monies Playhouse? The people in our lives have a significant impact on us, and sometimes we don’t know their impact on us until they are gone. How we reflect on them can sometimes lead us to do extraordinary things. “Calendar Girls,” which opened on June 3 at Des Moines Playhouse, asks us to reflect on how we remember the people in our lives and what we do to commemorate their memory.
Elmwood Playhouse Presents DINNER WITH FRIENDS, 3/15-4/13
by Kelsey Denette
- Feb 28, 2013
Playwright Donald Margulies has been quoted as calling his Pulitzer Prize-winning play DINNER WITH FRIENDS "a rueful comedy". The story is not just a thoughtful study on divorce, but a turbulent meditation on the minefield of middle age. Happily married Gabe and Karen have been friends with Tom and Beth for many years. While having dinner with Gabe and Karen, Beth tearfully reveals that she is getting a divorce. Over the course of the play, we witness the effects of Tom and Beth's breakup on Gabe and Karen, who first feel compelled to choose sides, and then begin to question the strength of their own seemingly tranquil marriage. The play exposes the same, universal insecurities that people face every time there are shattering changes in their lives. Margulies' characters are normal and real, they are our family, friends, and the people next door.
