{"id":2335420,"date":"2026-03-18T18:53:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2335420"},"modified":"2026-03-18T18:53:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:53:05","slug":"entertainment-highlights-the-art-of-dining-play-opens-at-barnarts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/entertainment-highlights-the-art-of-dining-play-opens-at-barnarts\/","title":{"rendered":"Entertainment Highlights: &#8216;The art of dining&#8217; play opens at BarnArts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_XPvkGH07lLQ?ui_title_icon=headphones&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=3.0.3\" width=\"100%\" height=\"130px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>BARNARD \u2014 It often feels like we\u2019re living in an age where the value of dining out is being called into question.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In his final column as food critic for The New York Times, Pete Wells wrote in 2024 about servers being replaced by apps that make ordering and paying for one\u2019s meal faster and more removed from the human touch.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ordering in has also become more popular, with almost three out of four restaurant orders eaten outside of the establishment, the National Restaurant Association reported in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>The routine of sitting down to break bread with friends, of interacting with the people who make and serve one\u2019s food, seems to have fallen by the wayside.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Written in the 1970s, \u201cThe Art of Dining,\u201d a new production at BarnArts that opens Friday, March 20, recalls an age when such a shift had not yet come into play.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re tackling the relationship culturally we have with food, and how we use food to come together and connect with each other,\u201d Linda Treash, BarnArts\u2019 executive director said in a phone interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Under Treash\u2019s direction, the play follows Ellen and Cal, a plucky couple running a burgeoning restaurant, The Golden Carrousel, on the Jersey shore. Played by Olivia Piepmeier, BarnArts\u2019 communications and project manager, Ellen is the visionary chef behind the French-inspired cuisine, with Cal (Shu-Nan Chu) her loyal maitre d\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Guests trickling in throughout the night bring their own senses of humor and complicated relationships with food.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A wealthy couple finds an almost erotic pleasure in the dishes they\u2019re served, while a friend at a birthday dinner refuses to touch her plate, unearthing a history of disordered eating.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Then there\u2019s a nervous writer who arrives for a meeting with a prospective publicist, who\u2019s a lover of good food. The writer\u2019s anxiety ebbs and flows throughout their meal as she recounts stories from her troubled childhood and fraught family history.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of humor amongst the anxiety and worry,\u201d Treash said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fergus Ryan and Bridgette Hammond rehearse for BarnArts\u2019 production of \u201cThe Art of Dining,\u201d which opens on Friday, March 20, 2026, at Barnard Town Hall. (Courtesy photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Like horses spinning by on a carousel, the diners offer a window into just how many lives can fit around the table. <\/p>\n<p>At the center of it all are the intrepid owners, who are plagued with their own worries about how to make the restaurant profitable, an evergreen concern among restaurateurs.<\/p>\n<p>One of the trickiest parts of staging \u201cThe Art of Dining\u201d has been coordinating all the food that\u2019s served in the show, some of which, such as the trout, must be made fresh each day in Barnard Town Hall\u2019s kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsually your props don\u2019t have a shelf life,\u201d Treash said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Treash\u2019s 17-year-old daughter Marlena Farinas has been in charge of managing the food, with the help of the stage manager and an additional pair of hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While preparing the food has been challenging, it\u2019s also helped bond the cast. One night Treash had everyone over for a party at her house where they cooked all the food on the play\u2019s menu.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was a way of helping everybody understand the food and understand what was being talked about and what goes into it,\u201d Treash said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Audiences will also get to taste the feast. An oxtail soup that features in the play will be sold at concessions, the tails for which were donated by the Village Butcher in Woodstock.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>BarnArts has amassed a dedicated cohort of actors over the years and many of the show\u2019s cast are returning participants.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Among them is Fergus Ryan, who plays the wealthy Paul Galt, and who starred in \u201cMacbeth\u201d two years ago. Bridgette Hammond, who plays his wife, Hannah Galt, was the titular character in \u201cAntigone\u201d last year. Albert Falcone, who plays the publicist, performed the part of Captain Georg von Trapp in a past production of \u201cThe Sound of Music,\u201d and Killian White, who performs as one of the friends at the birthday dinner, directed Ryan in \u201cMacbeth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"551\" data-attachment-id=\"260951\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/vnews.com\/2026\/03\/18\/barnarts-art-dining-play\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?fit=2400%2C1696&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2400,1696\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;X-T2&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;From left to right, Shu-nan Chu, Olivia Piepmeier, Julianne Borger and Darby Hiebert rehearse for BarnArts\\u2019 production of \\u201cThe Art of Dining,\\u201d which opens on Friday, March 20, 2026, at Barnard Town Hall. (Courtesy photograph)&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1771529707&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;35&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;6400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20260317-vn-artofdining-001\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;From left to right, Shu-nan Chu, Olivia Piepmeier, Julianne Borger and Darby Hiebert rehearse for BarnArts\u2019 production of \u201cThe Art of Dining,\u201d which opens on Friday, March 20, 2026, at Barnard Town Hall. (Courtesy photograph)&lt;\/p&gt;&#10;\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?fit=300%2C212&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?fit=780%2C551&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?resize=780%2C551&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-260951\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?resize=1024%2C724&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?resize=300%2C212&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?resize=768%2C543&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?resize=1536%2C1085&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?resize=2048%2C1447&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?resize=1200%2C848&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?resize=2000%2C1413&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?resize=780%2C551&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 780w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?resize=400%2C283&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001.jpg?w=2340&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260317-vn-artofdining-001-1024x724.jpg?w=370&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left to right, Shu-nan Chu, Olivia Piepmeier, Julianne Borger and Darby Hiebert rehearse for BarnArts\u2019 production of \u201cThe Art of Dining,\u201d which opens on Friday, March 20, 2026, at Barnard Town Hall. (Courtesy photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhile we always have strong actors, this script really drew in some of BarnArts\u2019 strongest leads to play a variety of roles,\u201d Treash said in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Part of Treash\u2019s decision to stage \u201cThe Art of Dining\u201d came from the desire to showcase work by a female playwright. Though nominated for two Pulitzers, the play\u2019s author Tina Howe, who died in 2023 at age 85, often hasn\u2019t received the same recognition as her male counterparts, Treash said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Working in the \u201970s, she pushed up against the same sexism that female chefs did at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow excellent this play is is clear evidence of just how many great scripts by women there must be out there,\u201d Treash said. \u201cWe hope to keep finding them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><em>BarnArts\u2019 production of \u201cThe Art of Dining\u201d is up through March 29 at Barnard Town Hall, with performances Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and one Thursday. For tickets ($15-$20) and more information go to <\/em><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/barnarts.org\/\"><em>barnarts.org<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Kiss party\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>This week in Wilder, KIS Thrift (that\u2019s spoken as KISS Thrift) is throwing a belated celebration of the store\u2019s opening\u2026 one year later. Matt Mazur aka The Caring Babies will perform at 6 p.m. on Friday, followed by Etna pop diva Sir Babygirl. The show is free and open to the public. Visit KIS\u2019 Instagram <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/kis_thrift_vt\/\">@kis_thrift_vt to<\/a> learn more.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Kids\u2019 party<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Grammy award-winning children\u2019s music duo 123 Andr\u00e9s are bringing their interactive performance to Dartmouth\u2019s Hopkins Center for the Arts this Saturday. With ties to Colombia, husband and wife Andr\u00e9s Salguero and Christina Sanabria have performed in Spanish and English across the U.S and Latin America and on PBS Kids. Saturday\u2019s show starts at 2 p.m. For tickets ($20+) go to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/hop.dartmouth.edu\">hop.dartmouth.edu<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tweens\u2019 party\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>Students at Hartford Memorial Middle School will once again break out their best moves for the school\u2019s annual 12-hour dance marathon fundraiser, starting at 7 p.m. this Friday. Last year the school raised over $11,000, and this year students are going for $12,000, all of which will be donated to the Upper Valley Haven. To learn more about the marathon and how to donate, go to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/hmmsvt.com\/extracurriculars\/hmmd\">hmmsvt.com\/extracurriculars\/hmmd<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Indie party\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>A few tickets remain to indie band Lucius\u2019 show at Lebanon Opera House at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19. The band recently released an eponymously titled album and their fourth LP. \u201cLucius\u201d explores the complexity of relationships and motherhood filtered through soulful pop rhythms. For tickets ($41-$58) and to learn more go to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/lebanonoperahouse.org\">lebanonoperahouse.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hey, clean up that cello<\/h3>\n<p>All the way from San Francisco, Dirty Cello will perform at Court Street Arts in Haverhill on Friday, March 27. The band, which \u201caccidentally became popular with the nudist community,\u201d Dirty Cello leader Rebecca Roudman writes, fuses blues, rock and Americana sounds. Next week\u2019s show starts at 7:30 p.m. Dinner will be served beforehand, at 6:30 p.m. For tickets to the dinner ($20) and the concert ($30; $20 for students) go to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/csa-alumnihall.org\">csa-alumnihall.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source vnews.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BARNARD \u2014 It often feels like we\u2019re living in an age where the value of dining out is being called into question.\u00a0 In his final column as food critic for The New York Times, Pete Wells wrote in 2024 about servers being replaced by apps that make ordering and paying for one\u2019s meal faster and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2335421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[432391,22672],"class_list":["post-2335420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-barnard-vt","tag-latest-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Entertainment-Highlights-The-art-of-dining-play-opens-at-BarnArts.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2335420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2335422,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335420\/revisions\/2335422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2335421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2335420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2335420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2335420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}