Dear Great Book Guru,  As the holiday festivities continue into 2015, I would like to take a moment and think about the years behind and the years ahead.  Do you have something to recommend that is short but very, very  meaningful?                                Ponderer of the Past and Future

Dear Ponderer, I have just the thing for you: A LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER by Thornton Wilder.  His play “Our Town” has always been a favorite of mine and this one act play captures much of that same spirit. Time passes and people inevitably move on.  The set is a long table festooned with Christmas baubles and around this table sit the characters. Over forty minutes- the length of the play- ninety years of Christmas dinners are celebrated.  We meet characters as young people, sometimes infants, elderly relatives, thriving businessmen and women, fathers, mothers, aunts- with the only constant being the set. Deaths occur as characters exit through portals on stage and costumes are kept at a minimum with white wigs used to show characters aging. Throughout we sense a beautiful symmetry as time passes and life is renewed.  A wonderful, wonderful reading for anytime of year, but particularly as the year winds down. Highly recommended!

If you are in Sea Cliff on New Year’s Eve, join us on the Village Green a few minutes before midnight to welcome the new year in!