A Tasty Dish For The Gods

A Dish for The Gods, premiering at the Lion Theater on Theater Row, is the latest piece by veteran playwright Victor L. Cahn.  Gods is presented as a lecture by an accomplished female author and editor, Julia Richards.  In this lecture, Julie’s stock presentation goes awry; blown off course by a catalogue of mistakes that leaves Julia pondering how she has arrived at this place in her professional life.

Julia, played to perfection by Margot White, explains how she went from unfocussed 20-something to a driven female writer and researcher.  A male professor, Greg Davidson (played by Kevin Cristaldi), awoke a passion English Literature - passion being the key component.

 

Kevin Cristaldi and Margot White in A Dish For The Gods (credit - Jon Kandel)

Julia's tale unfolds as a love letter to teaching and then the teacher himself.  Professor Davidson, lecturer in English Literature, challenged the intelligent but unfocussed Julia into returning to college finish her degree.  He awakens such a passion that she completes her BA and then go for a Masters.  All the while, Greg and Julia’s relationship deepens from flirtation into an emotional and sexual relationship.

The framing device, and the pivot point for Julia, is the underlying theme of Taming of the Shrew – to wit, true love requires a person to give up part of himself or herself to grow into a fulfilling union.  How much the audience member buys into this theme probably affect how much they can get lost in A Dish for The Gods.

Margot White does a wonderful job as Julia, bringing strength and stillness to a role that could easily turn into melodrama.  Kevin Cristaldi delivers a fine turn as Professor Davidson.  The role requires him to show up and display emotions without fully taking us on the journey – acceptable for the shadow of a man conjured up by memories.

Director Adam Fitzgerald does a nice job moving the action along and working within the confines of the play, without ever making it seem too much of a limitation.  However, A Dish for The Gods ultimately didn’t complete the sale.  After delivering a powerful, strong female character, Julia melts a bit at the end.  She over-dramatically laments her decisions, ones which were made thoughtfully and deliberately. 

There is a fine line separating regret of decisions made versus regretting how you implemented those decisions.   The second shows a maturity and honest remorse without revisiting mistakes.  The first, lamenting decisions at all, displays an inability to grow up and take responsibility for your life.  It is Mr. Cahn’s poor luck that he drew such a complex character early, that Julia's self-pity reads false at the end of the piece.  I have no doubt that some women (and some men) may second-guess themselves to this extent, but Julia would not.

A Dish for The Gods is an strong love letter to complex women, but it deserved a more fitting coda.

A Dish For The Gods
Playwright: Victor L. Cahn

Director: Adam Fitzgerald

Cast: Kevin Cristaldi, Margot White

Website

Upcoming in September: A Dish For The Gods

MARGOT WHITE & KEVIN CRISTALDI

To Star in

Rachel Reiner Productions

World Premiere of

A DISH FOR THE GODS

Written by Victor L. Cahn

Directed by Adam Fitzgerald

Theatre Row's Lion Theatre

Beginning Performances September 14; Opening September 16, 2013

New York: Rachel Reiner Productions will present the World Premiere of Victor L. Cahn'sA Dish For The Gods, directed by Adam Fitzgerald. A Dish for the Gods will begin performances on Saturday September 14, and will open Monday, September 16  and will run throughOctober 5, 2013  at Theatre Row's Lion Theatre (410 West 42 Street). Tickets are $19.25 (including a $1.25 theatre restoration charge) and can be purchased atwww.Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

In A DISH FOR THE GODS, celebrated writer Julia Richards reflects on her path to success as well as the price she has paid. She recalls the challenges she faced, the painful choices she made, and the tumultuous relationship she shared with the singular man she loved.

This production marks Cahn's seventh New York production in just under ten years, his sixth with Rachel Reiner Productions. A DISH FOR THE GODS will star Margot White (Broadway:The Farnsworth Invention) and Kevin Cristaldi (Next Fall, Dear Darkness). Creative team includes: David Arsenault (Set Design), Brooke Cohen (Costume Design), Nastassia Jimenez (Lighting Design), Colin Whitely (Sound Design), Rebekah Hughston(Associate Producer), Sean McCain (Stage Manager).  

  

A DISH FOR THE GODS

Written by Victor L. Cahn; Directed by Adam Fitzgerald

Begins performances on September 14; Opens September 16 and runs through October 5, 2013

Performance Schedule: Wednesday-Saturday at 8PM; Sunday Matinee at 3PM

Added performance Monday, September 16 at 7PM (opening); NO performance onSeptember18

Running Time is 90 Minutes NO intermission

The Lion is located at 410 West 42 Street

 Tickets are $19.25 (including $1.25 theatre restoration charge)

Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

Mr. Cahn and Mr. Fitzgerald are available for interviews. To arrange interviews and/or press tickets please contact Springer Associates PR at 212 354 34660 / joe@springerassociatespr.com

WHO's WHO

VICTOR L. CAHN has written numerous plays, including several produced Off-Broadway as well as regionally: Getting the Business, Roses in December; Embraceable Me; Fit to Kill (all published by Samuel French); Dally with the Devil; Sheepskin/Bottom of the Ninth; andSherlock Solo, a one-man show that he performs. He has also taken leading roles in plays by Shakespeare, Pinter, Coward, Simon, Gurney, and Knott. He is Professor of English at Skidmore College, and the author of five books on Shakespeare; critical volumes on Tom Stoppard and Harold Pinter; Conquering College: A Guide for Undergraduates; the memoir Classroom Virtuoso;and two novels, Romantic Trapezoid and Sound Bites. His articles and reviews have appeared in such varied publications as The New York Times, The Literary Review, Modern Drama, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Variety. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Inc.

ADAM FITZGERALD (Director)is the Artistic Director of kef theatrical productions and a founding partner of FIFTY2&NINE. With kef Adam recently directed Ken Urban's The Awake, the critically acclaimed Methtacular! (Time Out NY Critics' Pick), Killing Women(with Lisa Brescia) and Lyric is Waiting. Other recent NYC directing credits include Songs for a More Funnier World (NYMF), Getting the Business (Rachel Reiner Productions), Marc Castle'sFriends and Relations, Michael I Walker's Letter from Algeria (GroundUp) and the concerts of Ali Ewoldt and Adam Jacobs' Heart Full of Love (Town Hall) and Carner and Gregor's Island Song (92YTribeca). Adam was the 2008-09 Directing Resident at Playwrights Horizons assisting Wilson Milam, Bartlett Sher and Kate Whoriskey on plays by Nicky Silver (Three Changes with Maura Tierney), Craig Lucas (Prayer for My Enemy with Victoria Clark, Michele Pawk and Jonathan Groff) and Christina Anderson (Inked Baby with LaChanze) and served as the 2007-08 Artistic Associate, Playhouse West where his production of Defiance garnered Critics Circle nominations for Director and Production. With FIFTY2&NINE, Adam wrote and directed the PSA for the Ad Council and GLSEN which won a national Talent House competition judged by Brett Ratner and Tom Ford and directed FIFTY2&NINE's first web series, Conversations w/My Ex for GWIST TV. www.directorfitz.com

KEVIN CRISTALDI (Greg) Kevin Cristaldi's theatrical credits include Next Fall (Florida Studio Theatre), The Dirty Talk (Center Stage, NYC), Last of the Red Hot Lovers (Schoolhouse Theater), Dear Darkness (New Ohio, NYC), Eddie Legs (The Lillian Theatre, L.A.), Cringe(Evidence Room, L.A.), The Last Station (Vermont Stage), The Miser (Hartford Stage), Message to Michael (Rattlestick Theater, NYC), Importance of Being Earnest (Two Rivers Theater), and the title role in Hamlet (Arden Theatre, Philadelphia). He is a member of The Evidence Room in Los Angeles, and has worked with Terra Nova Collective, the Labyrinth Theater Co., and Vampire Cowboys here in NYC. Television credits include Criminal Minds, Gilmore Girls, Numbers, Medium, The Unit, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

MARGOT WHITE (Julia) 2013 has proved a busy year for Margot.  As a TACT company member, she performed in their Spring production of Happy Birthday, as well as Love Therapy at the D*R*2.  She also just returned from CATF as a last minute replacement in Heartless, and will be at Harlem's Apollo Theatre the first weekend in November in Unspeakable - based on the life of Richard Pryor.  Other Favorite Credits include: Broadway/Off-Broadway: Aaron Sorkin's The Farnsworth Invention; Rosmersholm (The Pearl, opposite Austin Pendleton); The Traveling Lady (E.S.T, Drama Desk Nomination, Best Revival); Pericles (Red Bull); Love Goes to Press! (Mint Theatre); world premiere of When They Speak of Rita (Primary Stages),directed by Horton Foote.  Regional:  Marshall Mason's revival of Talley's Folly at The McCarter with Richard Schiff; Studio Theatre/DC, A.C.T, Great Lakes, Pioneer, & STNJ.  TV/Film: "L&O", "L&O: CI", "Ugly Betty", "Blue Bloods" "Four Single Fathers", "Face Time", "A Queen Without His Crown"and a couple pilots on the 'cutting room floor' Network.