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Dinner
An artist, a scientist and a sexpot are coming for dinner. Paige, hostess extraordinaire, is celebrating the publication of her husband's best seller. The arrival of Mike, marooned in the foggy lane having crashed his van, provides an unexpected addition to the evening's entertainment.
107 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 2002
84 people want to read
About the author
Moira Buffini
36 books184 followersMoira Buffini (born 1965) is an English dramatist, director, and actor.
She was born in Carlisle to Irish parents, and studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths. She subsequently trained as an actor at the Welsh College of Music and Drama.
For Jordan, co-written with Anna Reynolds in 1992, she won a Time Out Award for her performance and Writers' Guild Award for Best Fringe play. Her 1997 play Gabriel was performed at Soho theatre, winning the LWT Plays on Stage award. Her 1999 play Silence earned Buffini the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for best English-language play by a woman. Loveplay followed at the RSC in 2001, then Dinner at the National Theatre in 2003 which transferred to the West End and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy.
Buffini wrote Dying For It, a free adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's classic, The Suicide, for the Almeida in 2007. She followed it with Marianne Dreams, a dance play with choreographer Will Tuckett, based on Catherine Storr's book. Her play for young people, A Vampire Story was performed as part of NT Connections in 2008.
Buffini is said to advocate big, imaginative plays rather than naturalistic soap opera dramas, and is a founder member of the Monsterists, a group of playwrights who promote new writing of large scale work in the British theatre. She has been described by David Greig as a metaphysical playwright. All her plays have been published by Faber.
Buffini is also a prolific screenwriter. In 2010 her film adaptation of Posy Simmon's Tamara Drewe was released followed by her adaptation of Jane Eyre for BBC Films and Ruby Films in 2011. The script appeared on the 2008 Brit List, a film-industry-compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays in British film. It received nine votes, putting it in second place. Buffini also adapted her play A Vampire Story for the screenplay of Neil Jordan's film Byzantium released in 2013.
She took part in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project Sixty Six for which she wrote a piece based upon a chapter of the King James Bible.
- Wikipedia
She was born in Carlisle to Irish parents, and studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths. She subsequently trained as an actor at the Welsh College of Music and Drama.
For Jordan, co-written with Anna Reynolds in 1992, she won a Time Out Award for her performance and Writers' Guild Award for Best Fringe play. Her 1997 play Gabriel was performed at Soho theatre, winning the LWT Plays on Stage award. Her 1999 play Silence earned Buffini the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for best English-language play by a woman. Loveplay followed at the RSC in 2001, then Dinner at the National Theatre in 2003 which transferred to the West End and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy.
Buffini wrote Dying For It, a free adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's classic, The Suicide, for the Almeida in 2007. She followed it with Marianne Dreams, a dance play with choreographer Will Tuckett, based on Catherine Storr's book. Her play for young people, A Vampire Story was performed as part of NT Connections in 2008.
Buffini is said to advocate big, imaginative plays rather than naturalistic soap opera dramas, and is a founder member of the Monsterists, a group of playwrights who promote new writing of large scale work in the British theatre. She has been described by David Greig as a metaphysical playwright. All her plays have been published by Faber.
Buffini is also a prolific screenwriter. In 2010 her film adaptation of Posy Simmon's Tamara Drewe was released followed by her adaptation of Jane Eyre for BBC Films and Ruby Films in 2011. The script appeared on the 2008 Brit List, a film-industry-compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays in British film. It received nine votes, putting it in second place. Buffini also adapted her play A Vampire Story for the screenplay of Neil Jordan's film Byzantium released in 2013.
She took part in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project Sixty Six for which she wrote a piece based upon a chapter of the King James Bible.
- Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 23, 2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06pv42wDescription: Moira Buffini's outrageous comedy Dinner started life in the National Theatre's Loft in 2002, and became her first West End smash. In this brand new production, adapted by the writer for Drama on 3, Harriet Walter returns to the role she created: Paige, the hostess and architect of an evening which her guests will never forget. Two other original leads, Nicholas Farrell and Penny Downie, and four new cast members, join her in this viciously black chamber piece about appetite, which will make you think twice about ever accepting another invitation to dinner. Part of the BBC On Stage season.
Moira Buffini's Olivier award-winning comedy about the relationship between the Queen and Margaret Thatcher, Handbagged, is currently on national tour, after the original Tricycle production directed by Indhu Rubasingham became a sell-out West End run. And her collaboration with Damon Albarn and Rufus Norris, the gaming musical wonder.land, is about to open at the National Theatre, having headlined the Manchester International Festival this year. These, along with her screenplays for movies Jane Eyre (directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga), Tamara Drewe (directed by Stephen Frears) and Byzantium (directed by Neil Jordan), and her previous play for the National, the political fable Welcome to Thebes (directed by Richard Eyre), have all demonstrated Buffini's appetite for political engagement, fast-moving wit, and a delight in satirising our own times.
November 23, 2015
From BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3:
Moira Buffini's outrageous comedy Dinner started life in the National Theatre's Loft in 2002, and became her first West End smash. In this brand new production, adapted by the writer for Drama on 3, Harriet Walter returns to the role she created: Paige, the hostess and architect of an evening which her guests will never forget. Two other original leads, Nicholas Farrell and Penny Downie, and four new cast members, join her in this viciously black chamber piece about appetite, which will make you think twice about ever accepting another invitation to dinner. Part of the BBC On Stage season.
Moira Buffini's Olivier award-winning comedy about the relationship between the Queen and Margaret Thatcher, Handbagged, is currently on national tour, after the original Tricycle production directed by Indhu Rubasingham became a sell-out West End run. And her collaboration with Damon Albarn and Rufus Norris, the gaming musical wonder.land, is about to open at the National Theatre, having headlined the Manchester International Festival this year. These, along with her screenplays for movies Jane Eyre (directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga), Tamara Drewe (directed by Stephen Frears) and Byzantium (directed by Neil Jordan), and her previous play for the National, the political fable Welcome to Thebes (directed by Richard Eyre), have all demonstrated Buffini's appetite for political engagement, fast-moving wit, and a delight in satirising our own times.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06pv42w
Moira Buffini's outrageous comedy Dinner started life in the National Theatre's Loft in 2002, and became her first West End smash. In this brand new production, adapted by the writer for Drama on 3, Harriet Walter returns to the role she created: Paige, the hostess and architect of an evening which her guests will never forget. Two other original leads, Nicholas Farrell and Penny Downie, and four new cast members, join her in this viciously black chamber piece about appetite, which will make you think twice about ever accepting another invitation to dinner. Part of the BBC On Stage season.
Moira Buffini's Olivier award-winning comedy about the relationship between the Queen and Margaret Thatcher, Handbagged, is currently on national tour, after the original Tricycle production directed by Indhu Rubasingham became a sell-out West End run. And her collaboration with Damon Albarn and Rufus Norris, the gaming musical wonder.land, is about to open at the National Theatre, having headlined the Manchester International Festival this year. These, along with her screenplays for movies Jane Eyre (directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga), Tamara Drewe (directed by Stephen Frears) and Byzantium (directed by Neil Jordan), and her previous play for the National, the political fable Welcome to Thebes (directed by Richard Eyre), have all demonstrated Buffini's appetite for political engagement, fast-moving wit, and a delight in satirising our own times.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06pv42w
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November 17, 2021I didn't fuck the lobster you stupid sad old man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sian <3
April 4, 2012
A very funny and clever book. The characters are all really interesting to follow and you can really see the different relationships they hold for each other.
February 13, 2014
Interesting... Would be a challenge to put on.
"Watch it, tosser, or I'll punch your bollocks out through your throat." - Hal
"Watch it, tosser, or I'll punch your bollocks out through your throat." - Hal
July 24, 2020
The ending was a bit of a waffly, rambled mess in my opinion. I'd like it much better if it's tightened up/finished off with more precise actions and/or dialogues.
Overall, it reminded me of a couple of films with a similar thematic energy/narrative pattern : 'The Platform' by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, and also obviously 'Parasite' by Bong Joon-ho. The difference of course being that Buffini's play is set against a very 'English' background - but it shares a closely similar narrative temperament towards/about class disparity which reveals itself in an almost absurdist manner (but definitely not absurdist in my opinion - in terms of art/literary genre at least) .
My expectations were somewhat high (considering the ratings on Goodreads were on the higher end), and that's probably why I found it hard to give it more than 3 stars. Also, 'Wynne' (which for me was the most annoying character in the play) reminds me a lot of 'the godmother' in the TV-series/play 'Fleabag'. I truly think that the characters/characterisation could have been done a bit better. 'Hal' and 'Lars' seem to be almost interchangeable; and 'Sian' felt a lot like a second-rate version of 'Paige'. 'Paige' wasn't a very memorable character either except that (I'd like to think) she's the main force/drive of the plot. But perhaps all of this was done intentionally - to portray the posh/rich dinner party guests as a bunch of ignorant, insensitive folks with bland personalities, and with very little to remember by. But in my opinion - this felt a lot like a lack of attention towards characterisation; I would go as far as to say that it was a weak attempt. In comparison to that - the two films that I've mentioned seem to have put way more effort in terms of portraying 'the rich'.
I think one of the reasons why I had such high expectations of Buffini/the play, 'Dinner' because Buffini wrote a brilliant screenplay for 'Jane Eyre' (2011) by Cary Joji Fukunaga. I rarely have the patience for films like that (I've never watched any film adaptations of 'Wuthering Heights' because why would I do that to one of my favourite novels ever) but I think this particular adaption of Brontë's work made my eyes hurt a little because the whole thing was so beautifully done. However - now that I've read 'Dinner', it made me think that maybe I'm just more of a fan of Cary Joji Fukunaga (Season 1 of True Detective - was just so brilliantly made - it even makes my mind tingle thinking about it now).
Overall, it reminded me of a couple of films with a similar thematic energy/narrative pattern : 'The Platform' by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, and also obviously 'Parasite' by Bong Joon-ho. The difference of course being that Buffini's play is set against a very 'English' background - but it shares a closely similar narrative temperament towards/about class disparity which reveals itself in an almost absurdist manner (but definitely not absurdist in my opinion - in terms of art/literary genre at least) .
My expectations were somewhat high (considering the ratings on Goodreads were on the higher end), and that's probably why I found it hard to give it more than 3 stars. Also, 'Wynne' (which for me was the most annoying character in the play) reminds me a lot of 'the godmother' in the TV-series/play 'Fleabag'. I truly think that the characters/characterisation could have been done a bit better. 'Hal' and 'Lars' seem to be almost interchangeable; and 'Sian' felt a lot like a second-rate version of 'Paige'. 'Paige' wasn't a very memorable character either except that (I'd like to think) she's the main force/drive of the plot. But perhaps all of this was done intentionally - to portray the posh/rich dinner party guests as a bunch of ignorant, insensitive folks with bland personalities, and with very little to remember by. But in my opinion - this felt a lot like a lack of attention towards characterisation; I would go as far as to say that it was a weak attempt. In comparison to that - the two films that I've mentioned seem to have put way more effort in terms of portraying 'the rich'.
I think one of the reasons why I had such high expectations of Buffini/the play, 'Dinner' because Buffini wrote a brilliant screenplay for 'Jane Eyre' (2011) by Cary Joji Fukunaga. I rarely have the patience for films like that (I've never watched any film adaptations of 'Wuthering Heights' because why would I do that to one of my favourite novels ever) but I think this particular adaption of Brontë's work made my eyes hurt a little because the whole thing was so beautifully done. However - now that I've read 'Dinner', it made me think that maybe I'm just more of a fan of Cary Joji Fukunaga (Season 1 of True Detective - was just so brilliantly made - it even makes my mind tingle thinking about it now).
October 31, 2021
Strong characters with a surprising thriller ending.
Paige hosts a meticulously planned upper-class dinner with her husband Lars, Wynne the vegetarian artist who is in love with Lars, Hal the microbe scientist and his wife Siân. Instead of Bob, Wynne's ex-boyfriend, Mike, a working-class van driver stumbled into the occasion and joins the group. As the play advances from Apptizer, Entrée, Main to Dessert (ACT I-IV), we learn the backstories and the relationships of the characters. At the end, Paige surprises the guests by first putting on a show to have The Waiter kill Lars, and then finally having herself killed by The Waiter, whom she found and hired on the internet.
Paige hosts a meticulously planned upper-class dinner with her husband Lars, Wynne the vegetarian artist who is in love with Lars, Hal the microbe scientist and his wife Siân. Instead of Bob, Wynne's ex-boyfriend, Mike, a working-class van driver stumbled into the occasion and joins the group. As the play advances from Apptizer, Entrée, Main to Dessert (ACT I-IV), we learn the backstories and the relationships of the characters. At the end, Paige surprises the guests by first putting on a show to have The Waiter kill Lars, and then finally having herself killed by The Waiter, whom she found and hired on the internet.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2022
3.5 ⭐️ gave me inspector calls vibes but different, clever ending certain but i’m still like WHAT WHY but i did enjoy
June 13, 2022
gloriously fucked-up!
January 16, 2026
Hey, i did this play!
August 26, 2018
Brutally funny and shocking satire of the vacuous, educated rich.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews