Theatres across the country are having Dinner With Friends, and Houston's Alley Theatre is no exception. The Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy opens April 11 on the Large Stage for a run through May 5. Daniel Sullivan's associate Pam McKinnon will restage Sullivan's original direction.

In Dinner With Friends, Donald Margulies writes of two couples (a pair of successful food writers and an artist and a lawyer) who have been close friends for a long time. When one couple breaks up, however, it sends shivers through all four friendships and the other marriage. Margulies, also the author of Sight Unseen and Collected Stories, has said Dinner is his most autobiographical play, as he has been with his wife for 21 years but watched many friends' relationships fall apart.

Dinner With Friends features Claudia Fielding as Beth, Gregory Northrop as Tom, Andrew Polk as Gabe and Lynne Wintersteller as Karen.

Niel Patel, who received a Drama Desk nomination for his set design of Dinner With Friends Off-Broadway, designs the Alley set, alongside Dinner With Friends Off-Broadway lighting designer Rui Rita, who often works at the Alley. Jess Goldstein and Daryl A. Stone design the costumes.

Tickets to Dinner With Friends are $49-$32. The Alley Theatre is located at 615 Texas Avenue. For reservations, call (713) 228-8421 or (800) 259-ALLE. The Alley Theatre is on the web at http://www.alleytheatre.com. -- By Christine Ehren