Marriage counselors deserve to be held in the highest of regards – especially if all marriages include extended silent treatments, sexual degradation and fantasies of sex with your wife’s sister.

If those were their only problems, perhaps the three divorced couples in ‘The Dinner Party’ would not cry and scream and tear one another to pieces. But if those were their only problems, the play would not speak so loudly about the all-encompassing human need to love and to be loved.

‘The Dinner Party’ previewed last night at the Black Box Theatre at Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St.

Claude, Albert and Andre, the three men of the play, are introduced first. One by one, they arrive at a high-class restaurant in France. They have received invitations to a dinner party there, but the mysterious host is nowhere to be found. They quickly discovered their common thread – they all had the same divorce lawyer.

At first, the men thought that the party was an opportunity to meet new women. But as each of their ex-wives showed up, they realized that was not the case.

The play picks up momentum when each couple is given alone time to discuss their problems. More accurately, they viciously rip into their ex-spouse’s most sensitively guarded emotions. All three couples have serious issues, but as the play progresses, the intense depths of their relationships are revealed. The results are an honest and sincere depiction of what happens when people lose love.

Allison Reed, a senior acting major, and Nick Nerio, a junior musical theatre major, shine as Yvonne and Albert. They are the most innocent and kind of the three couples. They have married and divorced twice. Before the dinner party, Albert, angry and broken by the divorces, had been giving Yvonne the silent treatment for more than a year. She breaks the silence.

‘I never meant to leave you twice,’ she said. ‘Once was good enough for me.’

Yvonne and Albert’s first argument reflects the awkward and unavoidably emotional feelings that arise from seeing an ex for the first time after a break-up. Reed, in a very credible performance, expresses guilt, anger and regret.

The second act impresses the most. Kate Siegelbaum, a senior acting major, carries the show as Gabrielle, the embodiment of desperate love-portrayed as the most passionate kind of love.

‘I don’t enjoy pain,’ she said. ‘I like the pursuit of it.’

Her ex-husband Andre, played by Nick Fondulis, a junior acting major, is as composed as she is frantic. Their relationship captivates its bitterness and the remnants of love it tries to hide.

‘If you’re a maggot,’ she said, ‘is it wrong to love another maggot?’

Gabrielle resents Andre for making her love him unconditionally. At the same time, she sees the beauty of the unfailing love.

‘I loved him unconditionally because conditionally would’ve killed us,’ she said.

Witty one-liners interrupt the play when it gets too sensitive and emotional. The lines are delivered with perfect timing and manner.

‘Does it bother you that Andre told us you were dead?’ asked Claude, played by Michael Penna, a junior musical theater major.

‘Oh no, we always call each other by our pet names,’ Gabrielle responded.

The intimacy of the Black Box increases the impact of the play. By the second act, most of the audience was leaning forward and listening intently. When Mariette, played by Jenna Paone, a sophomore theatre major, broke down due to her claustrophobia, the room felt smaller. The character’s comfort zones clearly decreased.

Despite being a story about failed marriages, ‘The Dinner Party’ is ironically also a story about the resilience of love. The characters never stopped loving each other. It is the superficial actions they take that lead them to where they are.

‘Some of us will take a look at ourselves,’ Andre said. ‘What we have lost and what we have gained.’

And what Syracuse University has gained is an impressive performance that could persuade even the most adamant disbeliever in love.

Angela Chan is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. E-mail her at anchan@syr.edu.

Published on September 25, 2003 at 12:00 pm