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A review by jakekilroy
Dinner with Friends by Donald Margulies
5.0
2025 REVIEW // FIVE STARS
Old Me did not read enough plays. You can tell quite easily by my review from more than a decade ago—because that guy didn't know what he was talking about. This was stellar—real, urgent, and moving. You can feel the history of everyone pulsing as it comes apart. There's so much humanity in wanting what's good or true and blistering at your own life not giving you that. You have less than a century, maybe only a few decades, to find joy. When you know it's time to move onto the next attempt, how could anyone deny you that? Heartbreak is everywhere, and it's daily in an unfulfilling marriage. These vignettes count for a great deal without dragging out the through-line. Here are four people who are happy and sad, young and old, secure and adrift, and they will be what they can. Oof.
2014 REVIEW // FOUR STARS
This play was fantastic, but it wasn't as jaw-dropping flooring as I anticipated. That's the problem with hype, not with this two-act play. I enjoyed it. The characters were real without being overly polished. There were barely any moments that I rolled my eyes, which happens a lot when I read or see plays. Emotion has to be so abundant with live theater, so even written, it comes off as overly loud. It comes off as presentation, not truth. It's my problem with plays, and it's not the problem with plays. But I love plays. I see them as a challenge, because you don't get the departure that a book immediately hands you. It's very in the moment, so you can't do the flowery bullshit every other writer can. You have to write the majesty of an drama with the accessibility of a romantic comedy in a lot of ways. This was tremendously easy to follow while maintaining a mature philosophy about life without driving it home or spelling it out. It was one heck of a balancing act.
Old Me did not read enough plays. You can tell quite easily by my review from more than a decade ago—because that guy didn't know what he was talking about. This was stellar—real, urgent, and moving. You can feel the history of everyone pulsing as it comes apart. There's so much humanity in wanting what's good or true and blistering at your own life not giving you that. You have less than a century, maybe only a few decades, to find joy. When you know it's time to move onto the next attempt, how could anyone deny you that? Heartbreak is everywhere, and it's daily in an unfulfilling marriage. These vignettes count for a great deal without dragging out the through-line. Here are four people who are happy and sad, young and old, secure and adrift, and they will be what they can. Oof.
2014 REVIEW // FOUR STARS
This play was fantastic, but it wasn't as jaw-dropping flooring as I anticipated. That's the problem with hype, not with this two-act play. I enjoyed it. The characters were real without being overly polished. There were barely any moments that I rolled my eyes, which happens a lot when I read or see plays. Emotion has to be so abundant with live theater, so even written, it comes off as overly loud. It comes off as presentation, not truth. It's my problem with plays, and it's not the problem with plays. But I love plays. I see them as a challenge, because you don't get the departure that a book immediately hands you. It's very in the moment, so you can't do the flowery bullshit every other writer can. You have to write the majesty of an drama with the accessibility of a romantic comedy in a lot of ways. This was tremendously easy to follow while maintaining a mature philosophy about life without driving it home or spelling it out. It was one heck of a balancing act.