Reading
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills
2019
Dinner at the Harbor Reef by
"Dinner at the Harbor Reef" is a what-if take on a famous true-life tragedy: the drowning death of actress Natalie Wood in November, 1981. What happened the night of her death has been widely reported and debated. But one event that’s gone relatively undiscussed and unaccounted for is the dinner that Wood, husband Robert Wagner, Wood’s friend/co-star Christopher Walken and the Wagners’ boat captain,...
"Dinner at the Harbor Reef" is a what-if take on a famous true-life tragedy: the drowning death of actress Natalie Wood in November, 1981. What happened the night of her death has been widely reported and debated. But one event that’s gone relatively undiscussed and unaccounted for is the dinner that Wood, husband Robert Wagner, Wood’s friend/co-star Christopher Walken and the Wagners’ boat captain, Dennis Davern, shared at Catalina, CA restaurant Doug’s Harbor Reef a few hours before Wood drowned.
There was reportedly lots of contention, drinking and some drug use over the course of the dinner’s three-plus hours. But what really happened? What was discussed? What was the group dynamic? What could’ve gone on that was so troubling that it led to escalated arguing between Wood and Wagner when they returned to the yacht--and to Wood’s later exit from the boat into the dark, icy waters?
The play, featuring the four real-life characters above along with a fictional waitress, is conceived as a largely realistic, two-act, five-character drama set in and outside the restaurant. It follows the dinner over the course of the night, using the characters’ truths and histories as we know them to conjecture how the evening may have led to Wood’s demise. I call it "Fiction based on fact, rumor and Hollywood."
There was reportedly lots of contention, drinking and some drug use over the course of the dinner’s three-plus hours. But what really happened? What was discussed? What was the group dynamic? What could’ve gone on that was so troubling that it led to escalated arguing between Wood and Wagner when they returned to the yacht--and to Wood’s later exit from the boat into the dark, icy waters?
The play, featuring the four real-life characters above along with a fictional waitress, is conceived as a largely realistic, two-act, five-character drama set in and outside the restaurant. It follows the dinner over the course of the night, using the characters’ truths and histories as we know them to conjecture how the evening may have led to Wood’s demise. I call it "Fiction based on fact, rumor and Hollywood."