Drama On 3 - Curated By Harriet Walter

Harriet Walter stars in Moira Buffini's outrageous black comedy of appetite.

by Moira Buffini

Moira Buffini's outrageous comedy Dinner started life in the National Theatre's Loft in 2002, and became her first West End smash. In this production, adapted by the writer for Drama on 3, Harriet Walter returns to the role she created: Paige, the hostess and architect of an evening which her guests will never forget. Two other original leads, Nicholas Farrell and Penny Downie, and four new cast members join her in this viciously black chamber piece about appetite, which will make you think twice about ever accepting another invitation to dinner.

Moira Buffini's collaboration with Damon Albarn and Rufus Norris, the gaming musical 'wonder.land', ran at the Manchester International Festival, the National Theatre and the Th退 tre du Ch telet, Paris; and her Olivier award-winning comedy about the relationship between the Queen and Margaret Thatcher, 'Handbagged', after the original Tricycle production directed by Indhu Rubasingham, became a sell-out West End run.

These, along with her screenplays for movies 'Jane Eyre' (directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga), 'Tamara Drewe' (directed by Stephen Frears) and 'Byzantium' (directed by Neil Jordan), and her previous play for the National, the political fable 'Welcome to Thebes' (directed by Richard Eyre), have all demonstrated Buffini's appetite for political engagement, fast-moving wit, and a delight in satirising our own times.