“Feasting on Secrets: The Sinister Delights that Lurk Beneath the Perfect Dinner Party”
Writing a dinner party scene can feel like preparing the perfect soufflé—difficult, delicate, and definitely prone to collapsing under pressure! It’s an art that challenges even the most seasoned writers, and you don’t have to look far for proof of its complexity. Think about how often holiday gatherings ignite both laughter and simmering tensions—don’t we all have that one family member who can turn a simple meal into a cathartic unraveling of familial secrets? From literary classics like Mrs. Dalloway to modern television gems such as the acclaimed “Fishes” episode of The Bear, dinner parties offer a unique staging ground for drama, humor, and profound revelations. Why do these meticulously crafted gatherings resonate so deeply in storytelling? Join me as we explore this timeless trope and discover why one writer’s mastery of the dinner party scene shines brighter than others… LEARN MORE.
And why one writer does it better than anyone else…
It is widely recognized in workshops and writers’ rooms around the world that writing the dinner party scene is a good writer’s greatest challenge.
You don’t need to look very hard in order to find successful examples, where expert writers have flexed their craft with one such scene. I think of the “Fishes” episode of The Bear, a heated flashback episode that takes place at a family Christmas dinner. I think of Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse, even of The Great Gatsby though that is a bit more extravagant than the norm.
One could argue that Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting is one of our earliest examples of the dinner party. Though, the Bible is to thank for that one more than da Vinci is.
If we’re really going to get into the weeds, we can discuss the fateful eating of pies in Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus or the slaughtering of the suitors in Homer’s Odyssey. The dinner party is by no means a new trope, and its effectiveness has been proven all across genre.
The dinner party scene works for the same reason that people need to rant about their families after the holidays: time spent sitting around a table just looking at each other can often bring out the…
