Long Christmas Dinner

by Thornton Wilder

Novanta pranzi di Natale della famiglia Bayard, novanta anni di vita. I rappresentanti di tre generazioni si succedono sulla scena. Attorno al rituale del pranzo natalizio, le parole dei commensali evocano gioie e preoccupazioni, amori e dolori, nascite e morti.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Christmas

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1931

About the author

Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.

For more see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton...

Reviews

[Olga · Rating 5 out of 5]

The unstoppable circle of life

The last day of the year is the most appropriate time to stop and think about relentless time and history repeating itself. This what 'The Long Christmas Dinner' is about. The only act of the play is the Christmas dinner comprising ninety Christmas dinners, ninety years and the four generations of the Bayard family constantly replacing one another in the same dining room.

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best one-act plays I have read.

Decades in the history of one family is compressed around a Christmas dinner table. At one side of the stage, you have a portal marked "birth" and the other side, "death" - characters come in as babies, grow up, grow old, and go out to death - all the time partaking in a Christmas dinner which are a multitude of dinners merged into one.

The play uses the dramatic technique of compressing time and space to great effect; at the same time managing to exude a feeling of the timelessness of existence.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another slice of Americana from the author of Our Town, The Long Christmas Dinner looks at the rituals and cycles of one family over decades of Christmas dinners. It’s a great idea but too short. Recommended.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure I actually care for the play (circle of life, blah, blah, blah), but this could be very interesting and beautiful to stage.

[Joey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful! So much emotion packed into a mere 20 pages. One of the best things I’ve ever read!