"Nobody comes near a dining room anymore," grumbles a character from A.R. Gurney's family comedy/drama, which was received with great acclaim when it premiered off Broadway in 1981.  Utilizing a six-member ensemble to enact a varied cross section of familial personalities, The Dining Room reveals the comedic, poignant and tragic panarama of the dying culture of upper-middle class life as 20th century America transitions into a much more efficient society, with less attention paid to tradition and more emphasis placed on progress.