By way of a new community outreach program recently established by the Hermosa Arts Foundation, A.R. Gurney’s “The Dining Room” is now playing at the Pier Avenue 2nd Story Theater through March 12.

As a way of improving Hermosa Beach’s local performing arts and culture scene, the Hermosa Arts Foundation has established various programs and projects for local artists to showcase their talent.

Performed by a group of artists mostly from the South Bay called the Hermosa Beach Players’ Club, “The Dining Room” is a 1982 off-Broadway play humorously examining American middle-class life from various time periods throughout the 20th century.

The original production highlighted 57 characters in 18 interlocking scenes in different time periods all taking place in a dining room representing a host of dining rooms belonging to many divergent people.

According to the show’s producer Maggie Moir, this particular production of “The Dining Room” comprises 55 roles in 18 free-flowing vignettes from the mid-1920s to the 1960s all performed by an ensemble of six actors — three men (Michael Durack, J.J. Miller and Kelly Brighton) and three women (Christine Bonn, Rebecca Cherkoss and Piper Layton).

“‘The Dining Room’ is a favorite of actors as they have the opportunity to display a broad range of skills, playing everything from a young child to an 80-year-old grandmother starting to deal with the confusion of fear and senility,” said Moir.

Gurney is considered to be one of the most prolific playwrights in America, earning the reputation as a “WASP writer” because many of his plays stress issues and concerns of a now-almost-defunct white American bourgeoisie in a humorous manner. While the scenes are funny, they also invoke feelings of poignancy, sadness and pain reflected in the shift in values and morals over the past three generations.

Gurney’s vivid WASP characters come alive in his 1982 play which opened off-Broadway and enjoyed a comfortable run of 552 performances prior to expanding to audiences across the United States.

Redondo Beach resident Brighton, who is the director and one of the stars in the play, also directed the Hermosa Beach Players’ Club’s first production, Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.”

“Maggie and I formed the group in partnership with the Hermosa Arts Foundation,” said Brighton. ” Directing ‘Into the Woods’ was much different from directing ‘The Dining Room’ in that it was acted out on a much grander scale with an orchestra and elaborate costumes. ‘The Dining Room’ is a smaller, more intimate piece which is perfect for the 2nd Story Theater.”

“The Dining Room” is the first production sponsored by the Hermosa Arts Foundation in its new outreach program.

“With the support of the Hermosa Arts Foundation we are reaching artists in the community,” added Brighton. “The talent here is largely untapped and many artists have to travel to Hollywood to work. What most don’t know is that there are so many people in the industry who live down here.”

The goal of such an outreach program is to sponsor a variety of projects such as stage readings of playwrights, workshops and small original works along with the more obscure productions like “The Dining Room.”

The foundation hopes to sponsor such events in the 2nd Story Theater on vacant weeknights not being used by the South Bay Civic Light Opera’s “Late Night Catechism,” now running Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.

“This play fits the intimate space of the 2nd Story Theater perfectly,” said the foundation’s president, Jon McCormack. “It also offers a wonderful laugh at ourselves and our forebearers. I’m so glad we have the opportunity to bring this seldom-seen piece to Hermosa Beach.”

The Hermosa Beach Players’ Club consists of actors mainly from the South Bay. In this production, two members hail from Hermosa Beach while two others are from Redondo Beach.

Brighton, who grew up in Hermosa Beach, has been directing since 1982.

“We are open to the idea of extending the show if the opportunity arises,” he said. “We are so proud to be working in association with the Hermosa Arts Foundation. It’s such a worthwhile organization. Because it was so successful with its telethon, it’s now able to subsidize projects like ours. It’s just a terrific group.”

Those interested in buying tickets to “The Dining Room” may call 376-1297. Show times are Sundays, at 7 p.m., and Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. The show runs through March 12.