Trinity School at Meadow View in Falls Church is staging a play popular in the mid twentieth-century: “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” In this screwball comedy, we meet arrogant critic and radio personality Sheridan Whiteside. After slipping and injuring himself on the ice while visiting a wealthy family, he threatens to sue them, leading to their allowing him to rehabilitate in their home. He soon commandeers the household, making the owners peripheral figures in their own home as he “holds court”, making expensive international phone calls, and working with his secretary, Maggie Cutler, in the home he has usurped. Even his secretary becomes tired of his overbearing ways, hoping to escape and find happiness by marrying a local journalist. Sheridan devises an elaborate ruse to keep Maggie in his service, but she develops a counter-plot…
Trinity School has a classical curriculum which usually focuses on dramas by Aeschylus, Shakespeare, and T.S. Eliot, with juniors and senior classes each performing two such plays per year. “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, is a bit of a departure, as it is a popular Broadway comedy that first appeared in 1939 that has enjoyed a number of revivals and film and radio treatments. Patty Whelpley, co-director of the play and Humane Letters teacher at Trinity tells Falls Church News-Press: “At Trinity School at Meadow View, our Classical Education model allows students to read and discuss many treasured philosophers and classic novels. While we usually perform Shakespeare comedies during eleventh grade, we thought this would be a good time to expose them to some great American playwrights.”
Indeed, the play makes reference to a number of fixtures of twentieth-century American culture, including stage and film actress Ethel Barrymore, Hollywood producer Samuel Goldwyn, classical violinist Jascha Heifetz, popular composer Irving Berlin, and Surrealist painter Salvador Dali. There are also Christmas references, making this a timely choice for a December school production!
The young cast does admirably with the play. Sam Friddle is excellent as the imperious Sheridan Whitside, delivering his acerbic comments with joy. Isabel Garcia-McIntire as Maggie conveys a believable exasperation just right for the role. Joseph Krueger lends an inquisitive approach to his character, journalist Bert Jefferson, while Tatum Hotmire presents a suitably enigmatic presence to her mysterious character Harriet Stanley. Lauren Kelley brings to the fore the humorously eccentric nature of her character, Dr. Metz. The effect of the play is greatly enhanced as props such as a candlestick telephone, a manual typewriter, and a vintage press camera evoke the 1940s time period, as do vintage dress fashions, a classic nurse’s uniform, and striped prisoner uniforms (the last commonly seen in classic Hollywood cinema).
Trinity School asks its students to write reflections on the plays they perform, and this is the time at which students are encouraged to express comments on the play in light of the school’s classical curriculum. Callie Fullilove, for instance, who plays Mrs. Stanley, one of the homeowners on whom Sheridan imposes himself, writes: “‘The Man Who Came to Dinner’ presents several examples of philosophy studied at Trinity… John Locke defines tyranny as a ruler exercising power beyond their right. He explains that the ruler oversteps his right when he uses his power for personal benefit rather than the good of those under his rule. Whiteside creates just such tyranny in the Stanley household. He constantly spews a barrage of insults at any unfortunate person who wanders within range of his wheelchair as he convalesces, drawing on his ready wit to supply him with his newest missive.”
Sydney Arllen, who plays Mrs. McCutcheon, citing Aeschylus’ ancient “Oresteia” cycle of Greek tragedies, notes that there are ethical questions in the play which hark back to ancient yet also reflect modern human experiences: “The questions in The Man Who Came to Dinner are focused on personal gain. How do one’s actions benefit him- or herself? Does this personal gain hurt others? Is it ever good to look for personal gain in a situation?”
Audience members who enjoy a good comedy, 1940s Americana, and perhaps speculating on deeper philosophical issues as did the Trinity students would do well to come to “The Man Who Comes to Dinner.” The play, which is gratis, runs Friday and Saturday, December 13 and 14, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. at the Pozez Jewish Community Center in Fairfax, Virginia 22031.
