[1] The Dinner Party had its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, in December 1999 and then ran at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
Five of them were mistaken into thinking a man they hold in high regard (who happens to be the divorce lawyer) is hosting the party, but he never shows up, and appearances prove to be deceiving.
After the shock wears off, the characters inevitably begin to analyze and emotionally process their past marriages, and the play ends on a hopeful note.
The play treats similar themes to Stephen Sondheim's Follies, but has a generally more upbeat ending and a more positive spin on breakups and the meaning of relationships.
Ben Brantley in his New York Times review wrote: "The Dinner Party obviously hopes to invert a traditional comic form to reveal the truly absurd messes that so many people make of their marriages.