Roundabout Theatre Company presents the off-Broadway revival of Donald Margulies Pulitzer Prize-winning play Dinner with Friends. The new production, starring Jeremy Shamos, Marin Hinkle, Darren Pettie and Heather Burns, begins performances at the Laura Pels Theatre on January 17. The dark comedy about two married couples offers a thought-provoking look at adult relationships and how they grow—and sometimes die. The revival is helmed by Tony-winning director Pam MacKinnon (Clybourne Park, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), and she recently gave an interview with Roundabout (to coincide with the start of previews) that really got us excited to see this show. Read on for MacKinnon’s four most intriguing quotes about relationships and Dinner with Friends.

“I used to make the naive assumption that my closest friends would go through life as I am, prioritizing always what I hold dear. Like Gabe [ a character in the play], I have been surprised.”

“There is something about a [marriage] vow that pressurizes a relationship for sure. It is inherently dramatic. Loving and supporting each other can turn to wounding each other. I am not married; I don’t think I will ever get married. I have a wonderful long-term relationship and I am sure that in another era we would have been married by now, but we haven’t chosen to do that.”

“The story felt removed, a delightful remove, at age 30 that isn’t there at age 45. The play makes me reflect not just on coupledom in general but more on my relationship.”

“[This play is] about expectations. It’s about defining and sorting through which ties bind and which ties don’t.”