Peri Gilpin, Dan Butler; PhotoL Joey Moro

Gilpin is really very good. She is expressive and gets her laughs by not playing to them. For Irene, while the situation is difficult and odd, it is something she can handle if only her husband would not be rude, not misbehave and bait the waiter. She is self-inspiring until pushed into hypoglycemia at which point she defers to her baser instincts. I heard someone in the audience afterward refer to this play as "just a basic sit-com" but he must not have been watching Gilpin for this play is not that kind of thing at all. There is no second episode here. The play completes its own cycle very well and most of the work of that is Gilpin's sensible contribution.

Irene encourages her husband Peter, beautifully played by Dan Butler, to pretend he might be bisexual and flirt with the waiter who clearly has marked him as a target for his abusive ways. Peter is at first uncomfortable with this, but when he turns from a belligerent diner into a flirtatious philanderer, the tone of the play alters hilariously. 

It is the oddest of possible choices, but like so much in this play it is almost inevitable. Butler is brilliant making the shift from one type of man to another, all for the cause of good service and some food. He turns Peter from a maddened clown into an almost Chaplinesque figure. And, funny enough, it almost works to Peter's advantage.

But this waiter, Stephen, is no fool. Middle-aged, gay, lonely, he has dealt with bisexual husbands before obviously. Greg Stuhr is absolutely wonderful in this role. He brings an absolute sense of purpose and concentration to the stage and he is almost completely unshakable. All Stephen demands from his customers is complete fealty. His purpose, his only purpose, is to bring them an unforgettable culinary experience and nothing can shake him from this goal. Stuhr has remarkable looks and glances; he has posture and poses and intentions that can bring anyone to wish they'd never left home. It's a glorious interpretation of such a man.