Nina Metz

It's the dinner party from hell--literally. The cuisine is haute, but the dinner-table conversation is even hotter, shifting topics as quickly as the courses. In "Omnium Gatherum," the enormously entertaining comedic bicarbonate from Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros, the setting is a hoity-toity soiree. The hostess is Suzie (Wendy Robie, with just the right amount of charming passive-aggressiveness), a hard-core but blissfully zany perfectionist who has assembled a combustible group of guests. No one agrees on anything, whether they are engaged in a typical post-9/11 political debate or discussing the merits of "Star Trek." But everyone gleefully delves into this conversational morass while shoveling in forkfuls of pan-roasted Columbia River salmon rubbed with rock salt and Spanish spices. Now that's poetry. The play mocks self-absorbed, snobbish dinner parties while illuminating the pleasures as well: good food, lots of booze, talky talkers--and that all-important opportunity to check out other people's bathrooms. Under Jason Loewith's snappy direction, this is one of the best productions to come out of Next Theatre since he took over as artistic director a few seasons back. Matthew J. York's cramped-elegant scenic design is a potent factor--you can feel the walls closing in on these people, an effect that is part absurdist joke, part honest-to-God horror show. All the personalities at the table are gloriously outsized (and based somewhat on real-life blowhards like Tom Clancy, Susan Sontag and Christopher Hitchens) and Loewith's ensemble captures their wending, drunken instability with great economy. Each cast member is good, but Elizabeth Laidlaw stands out as the knife-licking, hyper-vegan knee-jerk liberal with that perfect streak of gray running through her long hair. Why doesn't this actress get cast more often? She's big-time fabulous.

"Omnium Gatherum" plays at Next Theatre, 927 Noyes, Evanston, (847)475-1875, through December 12.

(2004-11-22)

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