For a drama student, directing a play makes hours upon hours of hard work worthwhile.  Senior Alicia Cruz’s dream came true when she directed the play “Dinner Party,” a one-act romantic comedy originally created by American playwright Neil Simon in 2000.

“There’s a period in drama between shows, like a break, and I’ve never directed anything, so I thought it would be cool to direct a single act,” Cruz said.

The plot of “Dinner Party” takes place in a private dining room at an expensive and fancy restaurant at a luxurious Parisian hotel.  Each of the six characters enters the stage one by one, not knowing why they were invited to the party until a pattern emerges revealing their past. The play focuses on a woman’s efforts to get back with her ex-husband.

“‘Dinner Party’ is a story about marriage and divorce.  It’s a mystery dinner party, and no one knows who’s throwing it.  Basically, it’s about a woman who gets (three) divorced couples for a dinner party and makes them reexamine past marriages in an effort to get back with her ex-husband,” Cruz said.

The six-person cast included juniors Josie Berman, Rebecca Haro, Eddie Santos, Tatiana Schaefer and Nathan Harris and senior Connor Wells.  Haro felt “honored and happy and excited” to play Mariette.

“Mariette is the strongest of all the women [in the play].  She’s very powerful and confident,” Haro said.

“Dinner Party” was one of the first student-directed plays to occur at Palmetto. Following the success of “Rumors,” Cruz hopes that “Dinner Party” will prove rewarding. Dinner Party had two showings on March 7.

“The best part was seeing the entire production process from the perspective of the director,” Cruz said, “and having a cast I though I could work really well with.”