Imagine June Cleaver as the leader of a cadre of quiche-eating hot mamas and ramp it up 1000% and you’ll get an idea of what you’re in for with Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood’s twisted little masterpiece “5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche,” at Alliance Repertory Theatre, at Mondo in Summit, New Jersey, through November 21. They combine the most common tropes of the 1950s and some delish stereotypes of the lesbian community into a romp of epic proportions in a tasty one-act package.
First off, prepare to be part of the fun. The nominal cast is the five brilliant women you see on stage, but we all become co-players in some really fun ways so tune up and prepare for joy.
Wren (Gloria Lamoureux), Dale (Cara Heary), Vern (Lauri MacMillan), and Ginny (Kelly Maizenaski) are setting up for the annual meeting of The Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein’s 1956 Quiche Breakfast, an annual event celebrating the edible, the incredible, egg! And oh, do these women LOVE their eggs! Their leader Lulie (Leslie Gayle Williams) is the epitome for these women–she exemplifies smart—she does!, beautiful—she is!, and forward thinking—whoa, put on the brakes here!, and when the Mid Century Modern version of “OOPS!” happens, Lulie turns out to have the solution.
There are several pertinent, and impertinent, reminders of just with whom we are dealing. Coded language abounds and the cast and director Mike Driscoll have had a blast mining the gems they share with us. Who needs a toothpick when good ol’ Vern’s around? And if you’re ever blue, Wren and Dale are like Chip and Dale in their perky happiness. Lulie is the Queen of the roost and Ginny’s looking for love in all the wrong places, till her face and an award-winning quiche collide and then the fun really begins!
There are hijinks and low humor and, quite honestly, fun on every level. Average Jane or Joe off the street will find lots to love in the broad humor—get it? Broad…?—but if you are in the Community, and are willing to decipher the Code for Jane and Joe, then it gets funnier and more dramatic. Remember, the cast expects audience participation, and if you can bring your own group, then you’ll ascend on your own breathlessness with an outing no one will ever forget.
There’s one more Thursday performance and if you don’t hurry, everything will be sold out from under you! Reserve now for “5 Lesbians” as well as their next productions. Hurry, hurry! The show closes on November 21 and you don’t want to miss this! Visit www.alliancerep.org for tickets and plan to stay for supper–there are many restaurants easy to walk to the heart of downtown Summit, and you’ll say “give me a little Quiche,”