The Long Christmas Dinner by Thornton Wilder

Greystones Players invite you to join them in the Whale Theatre for their exciting, immersive production of The Long Christmas Dinner by renowned American playwright and novelist Thornton Wilder, directed by Aideen Walton and staged ‘in the round’ * (see note below).

You will be drawn into this tender and insightful family narrative as we see four generations of the Bayard family through a distillation of their Christmas dinners over nearly 80 years. We observe that while the family’s circumstances change, their wealth grows and their social standing rises over the decades, many things remain the same or are repeated in the cycle of life. We witness the generational divides, changing expectations and customs, and reactions to both difficult personal and cataclysmic world events.

The Long Christmas Dinner is a moving meditation on the nature of time and family, its shared joys, losses and conflicts, and what really matters in the end – love, connection and forgiveness. Wilder breaks the boundaries of time as we measure it and invites us to partake of ‘one long, happy Christmas dinner’ with the Bayards. As generations appear, have children, become grandparents and eventually depart, only the audience appreciates what changes and what remains the same – and perhaps will find themselves, at this special time of year, reflecting on the cycles of their own families’ lives.

This lyrical and moving one-act play (about an hour long) has been described as ‘one of the sweetest theatrical meals in the repertory.’

Age Guidance: 12+ years old 

* For this production, ‘in the round’ refers to the staging of the play in the pit of the Whale Theatre with the audience seated encircling the performance. Some seating will be on cushions on the floor of the theatre. Please advise the box office if you have any physical issues, and an appropriate seat reservation will be made.