COSTA MESA, CA -- T. Scott Cunningham, Jane Kaczmarek, John Caroll Lynch and Julie White head the cast of the West Coast premiere of Donald Margulies' Dinner With Friends, which began performances Oct. 16 and officially opens Oct. 23 at South Coast Rep for a 5-week run.

Director Daniel Sullivan recently finished directing Romeo and Juliet at the Old Globe in San Diego. Actress Kaczmarek, a familiar face from hour-long weekly television dramas, won a 1995 L.A. Drama Critics Circle Featured Actress Award for her work in Raised in Captivity.

Margulies' previous plays at SCR include Sight Unseen and Collected Stories, both of which went on to New York productions and became finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The Sat. Oct. 24 matinee of Dinner will be a "Pay What You Will Performance." Call (714) 708-5555.

SCR also announced the launching of a campaign to raise $3 million during its 1989-99 season. The centerpiece of the campaign is a $1 million Artistic Directors Endowment Fund. It will generate income that will be available each season for SCR founders David Emmes and Martin Benson, providing them with the flexibility to respond to unique artistic opportunities as they arise. "The fund would allow the directors to support challenging set and costume design; engage specialized collaborators such as movement specialists, puppetmasters, or support workshops to test innovative ideas," said a company spokesperson.

--By Robert Simonson and Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent