The talented Upper School thespians of MICDS took to the stage in Orthwein Theatre again last weekend to offer The Art of Dining to audiences over three days. The play, written by Tina Howe, is set in a New Jersey restaurant and follows three groups of characters and their relationships with food. The owners of the restaurant have taken loans to invest heavily in their new restaurant, and they are worried about repaying the money. The play is a farce, which aims to entertain audiences by making them laugh. Farce relies on absurd situations, silly jokes, and stereotypical characters.
Upper School Performing Arts Teacher Carolyn Hood directed the show and was thrilled with the production. “I had a very talented group of actors,” she said. “Farce is so hard to play. It takes such precision in physicality and timing. My cast truly rose to the challenge.”
Because the show is set in a restaurant, food was like an additional character. The play is written so that characters prepare, serve, and eat meals right on the stage. This took a lot of forethought and planning. Hood said, “The immense challenge of the play was that we had to prepare dinners, soups, salads and desserts in real time. Ava Casillas ’26, who played Ellen, one of the restaurant’s owners, was a true master chef in this area. However, our real Hero was Props Master Cam Cozad ’27, who pre-prepared much of the food and spent hours after the show doing dishes!”
Cozad was up for the challenge and embraced the work. “I thought it was a really fun show. Being props, it was really hard to juggle all of the food and various dishes/silverware that were in the play, but it was overall very rewarding and an enjoyable experience,” he said.
Nolan Jones ’26 played Cal, the other restaurant owner. “For me, the most challenging aspect of this performance was the little time we had to prepare,” he said. “I would’ve really enjoyed a deeper dive into our characters and our motives, and I feel as though, in a way, we only scratched the surface. My favorite part of the performance was the live feedback we were able to receive from the audience through laughter. This allowed us to adapt and improvise in accordance with what the audience enjoyed. Another aspect I really enjoyed was the forgiving nature of the setting. Any mistakes we made throughout the course of the show added to the environment of a bustling restaurant and added to the enjoyment of the audience.”
Natalie Benoist ’25 was one of the restaurant’s patrons. A veteran of the MICDS stage, she tackled this unique script with vigor. “I really enjoyed The Art of Dining. It was such a unique show with so many funny characters who had different character arcs. It was a hard script to learn because none of the characters are ever having a conversation with each other, so it was kind of like learning a really long monologue with weird pauses. In the end, we all banded together and helped each other learn all of our lines, and that was really fun because it was a moment where everyone got to hang out. Personally, my favorite part of the play was when Ava’s character Ellen completely loses it and starts throwing pots and pans all over the place. It was fun to watch her get more confident with her destruction and every show!”
Audience member Sally Maxwell, Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning, enjoyed the production, and had a keen eye on the setting and props. “I loved seeing our talented US students dig in to these hilarious characters and chew the scenery. The stagecraft was perfection,” she said.
“The show went so very well,” summed up Hood. “It was fun to see fans of The Bear coming to see a truly foodie show.”
Well done, talented thespians! Congratulations on another successful show!
Meet the Cast
| Ellen | Ava Casillas ’26* |
| Cal | Nolan Jones ’26 |
| Hannah | Natalie Benoist ’25* |
| Paul | Anik Jukanti ’25* |
| Elizabeth Barrow Colt | Meredith Mack ’26 |
| Herrick Simmon | Grace Powell ’26* |
| Nessa Vox | Lainie Zimmer ’26* |
| Tony Stassio | Laurion Nicholson ’26* |
| David Osslow | Max Thomas ’25 |
Meet the Production Staff
| Technical Director | Patrick Huber, Upper School Fine & Performing Arts Teacher |
| Stage Manager | Joe Intagliata ’25* |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Dalton Costick ’26* |
| Set/Paint Crew | Lola Compton ’27* |
| Charlie Mills ’26* | |
| Cam Cozad ’27* | |
| Max Charnond ’25* | |
| Jackson Vetter ’25 | |
| Everett Ott ’26 | |
| Dalton Costick ’26* | |
| Ace Derdeyn ’25* | |
| Catherine Dawson ’26* | |
| Joe Intagliata ’25* | |
| Paolo Giaimo-Ochoa ’28 | |
| Eli Meissner ’26* | |
| Samuel Glasser ’26* | |
| Grant Krainik ’27 | |
| Laurion Nicholson ’26* | |
| Ryan Jan ’25 | |
| Nevin Hill ’26 | |
| Colin Walker ’27 | |
| Scenic Change Artist | Catherine Dawson ’26* |
| Props | Cam Cozad ’27* |
| Light Board Operators | Paolo Giaimo-Ochoa ’28 |
| Lola Compton ’27* | |
| Sound Board Operator | Everett Ott ’26 |
| Assistant Lighting Designer | Lola Compton ’27* |
| Master Electrician | Charlie Mills ’26* |
| Rigger | Timothy Henderson, Jr. |
| Costumes | Samantha Sullivan ’25* |
| Poster Design | Taylor Gast ’27 |
| Program Cover Design | Neel Goriparthi ’27 |
| Menu Design | Hayden Ludwig ’26 |
*Member of the International Thespian Society