This is the world Margulies exposes in Dinner with Friends , and he lets it fester before our eyes like an uncauterized wound. He is showing us the rampant destructiveness that is our age s central tragedy. It s not pretty. Which is why, I think, the creative team behind this production of Dinner with Friends seem so afraid to let the play s blunt honesty stand on its own. Margulies s theme is clearly conveyed in his text, but director Daniel Sullivan, actors Matthew Arkin, Lisa Emery, Kevin Kilner, and Julie White, and set designer Neil Patel have all pulled some punches in their realization of that text on stage.
Naked bravery is what s called for here.
Dinner with Friends has a point of view, but it has been obfuscated here by what seem like deliberate efforts to lighten the evening s tone. White, in particular, is masterfully dry as Beth, and Emery and Kilner have some terrific, telling moments as Karen and Tom. But it is, I think, finally soulless, and that s a pity.