Petruso is a freelance author and screenwriter in Austin, Texas. In the following essay, she discusses how the concept of food is used in Dinner with Friends.

The title of playwright Donald Margulies' work suggests the central, if subtle, role that food and cooking play in Dinner with Friends At the heart of the relationship between the two couples, Karen and Gabe and Beth and Tom, have been the meals they have shared together over the years. Dinner with Friends explores what happens when this bond is broken. Margulies uses food and related concepts in several ways. Primarily, food is employed as a symbol of stability, comfort, friendship, family, and closeness. The use of this symbol shows the differences between Beth and Tom, individually and as a couple, compared to Karen and Gabe. This essay explores the complex ways in which food is used.

In the play...