Dobama presents 'The Big Meal'

Bring your appetite to Dobama’s third mainstage production of its 54th season in the Heights—“The Big Meal,” by Dan LeFranc. The play runs through Jan. 5, 2014.

Set at a single restaurant table, and spanning more than 80 years, “The Big Meal” tells the story of five generations of a modern family through one unending metaphoric meal. Beginning with a young couple’s first meeting and ending with a visit from their great-grandchild, this inventive and beautiful play is about the love, the trials and tribulations, and the resilience of families. Over the course of many mealtimes, the play presents the moments—both large and small—that make up a full life.
 
In 2010, Dan LeFranc received The New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award for “Sixty Miles to Silver Lake.” “The Big Meal” received its world premiere at American Theatre Company in Chicago, where Time Out Chicago called it the “#1 Play of 2011.”  “The Big Meal” received its off-Broadway premiere at Playwrights Horizons, where it picked up a Drama Desk nomination and four Lucille Lortel nominations, including Outstanding Play. His most recent play, “Troublemaker,” recently premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Eight actors—Bob Goddard, Emily Kenville, Geoff Knox, Anne McEvoy, Llewie Nuñez, Derdriu Ring, Ryan Vincent, and Tom Woodward—play  multiple roles in this production of LeFranc's award-winning play. Joel Hammer, Dobama’s former artistic director, directs the play. He has worked as both an actor and director for Dobama Theatre for the past 25 years. As Dobama’s artistic director, from 2009 to early 2013, he helped transition the theatre from its space on Coventry Road to its current home here on Lee Road.

Performances of “The Big Meal” are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons. For a complete schedule, ticket prices and reservations, call the Dobama Theatre box office at 216-932-3396. Ask about reduced prices for RUSH tickets—$5 and available to patrons 21 and younger. A limited number of them are sold nightly, no earlier than five minutes before curtain time and based on availability.
 
A preshow conversation with Doug Katz, chef/proprietor at The Katz Club Diner; fire, food and drink; and chef/partner at Provenance at the Cleveland Museum of Art, will take place on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 6:30 p.m. Katz will talk about the role of cuisine in culture and in the fabric of families.
 

Jewel Moulthrop

Jewel Moulthrop is a Cleveland Heights resident and a member of the Heights Observer's Editorial Advisory Committee.

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Volume 7, Issue 1, Posted 10:26 AM, 12.04.2013