Simon uses light touch on a heavy topic

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Clockwise from Top Left, Will Nifong, Mary K. Nigohosian, Ken Kaden, Julie Ann Kornak, Ed Lester, and Julie Bayer star in “The Dinner Party.” | Photo by Richard Zimmermann

Updated: February 21, 2012 7:59PM

Naperville’s newest theater company presents a play by one of America’s greatest playwrights.

BrightSide Theatre presents Neil Simon’s “The Dinner Party” March 2 to 18. It is the company’s second play of its inaugural season. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 3 p.m. Sundays at North Central College’s Meiley-Swallow Hall.

“The Dinner Party” is a play about what happens at a swank restaurant in Paris when six people are seated together in a private dining room. The play is noted for its comedy, sharp dialogue and mystery.

Additionally, anyone who brings a non-perishable food item or makes a monetary donation for Loaves and Fishes will be entered for a chance to win a pair of tickets to BrightSide Theatre’s final show of their inaugural season, “My Way: A Tribute to Frank Sinatra.”

“The Dinner Party” is directed by Derek Bertelsen of Chicago. It’s one of his favorite plays.

Speaking up

The dinner party is composed of three divorced couples, who get the chance to say the things they wanted to say years ago.

“I think it’s a really exciting show to be presenting,” he said. “I think divorce is something that affects a lot of people in a negative way, but this is a nice way to laugh as well.”

The cast is working hard and handling the material well, he said.

“It’s really exciting to see it take shape,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a really exciting show.”

He has read the play in the past and when he saw the opportunity to direct it, he jumped at it.

“I really enjoy doing comedy, because I feel like there is so much drama in everyday life that it is always kind of fun to go to the theater and laugh,” he said.

Breaking up

He was attracted to the play for personal reasons as well — his parents divorced three years ago, and it has affected the choices he’s made in theater since then.

“I’ve been doing shows like ‘The Glass Menagerie’ and ‘God of Carnage,’ which both deal with material upset and broken families,” he said. “This intrigued me because while divorce is a really heavy topic, it deals with it in a light situation and it’s a fun show.”

If the audience comes away with nothing else, he hopes they remember to be grateful for the people in their lives.

“You know never know when things might change,” he said. “Be grateful for what you have and enjoy life now. Don’t live in the past.”

Neil Simon writes to the Everyman, he said.

“I really feel he writes to all walks of life,” he said. “I really feel like he’s the modern-day Shakespeare. He writes very smart shows that appeal to all types of people from all different backgrounds.”