MARSHALL – Great Escape Stage Company will present 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, to be staged at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, June 28-30, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 1. To highlight this production, the theatre is desperately seeking quiche bakers.

“All cooks and bakers in the Marshall community should know that we’re inviting them to participate in the Great Escape Quiche Bake-off during June,” said artistic director Randy Lake. The event is linked to the theater company’s next production, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche.

The comedy by Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood is set in 1956 during a meeting of the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein, who are preparing for their much-anticipated annual quiche breakfast.

“When nuclear disaster wipes everyone outside their community center, the bombs continue to drop inside,” said the show’s director, Kim Forde. “This is a hilarious, sassy, satirical romp, replete with audience interaction, innuendo, improvisation, singing, kissing, crying, the End of the World and – of course – quiche!”

Audiences are invited to join in the fun by dressing appropriately for the era. In fact, any patron who arrives at the box office wearing garb appropriate to the 1950s will receive a coupon good for $2 off any item at the concessions stand.

The cast features Rebecca Costie, Kyra Hill, Debbie Lundeen, Kelly Van Ryswyk and Kristin Wagner-Curnow. Susan Frook is in charge of costumes; Emma Hill is serving as assistant director; Anne Michels is the hair and makeup consultant; Joyce Kristufek is working on props; and Morgynn Putman and Antonio Barroso are members of the stage crew.

“In addition to all the laughs during the show, we believe our audiences will get a big kick out of sampling different types of quiche during the intermission of our show on June 29,” Lake said.

A panel of judges and audience members will select the best quiche based on taste, aroma and creativity. The top winner will be announced at the June 30 performance and will receive two tickets to any upcoming Great Escape production within the coming calendar year.

Participants must be prepared to bring their completed quiches to the theater between 3 and 6 p.m. Friday, June 29. Submissions should include the home-baked quiche, a recipe or list of its ingredients, as well as the participant’s name, hometown and best contact method.

Interested quiche-makers may contact Forde at kimforde@yahoo.com, or call the box office at (269) 781-2700. More information about the show is available at that number and at GreatEscapeStageCompany.com.

Forde said she is grateful for the help she already has received from Great Escape patrons and supporters, many of whom have stepped forward to assist with special effects and set decorations.

“Marshall resident Tom Sullivan of ‘Evil Dead’ movie fame is a consultant for one of our major nuclear-war effects,” Forde said. “Obviously, we wanted someone who knew how to handle something as potentially spectacular as that.”

The set includes a “wall of fame” showing past winners of the play’s fictitious quiche-baking contest. Photo models include Jane Forsberg, Tom Franke, Darlene Hardy, Tamara Hicks-Syron, Robin Kingsbury, Laurie LeClear, Lars Loofboro, Kathy Miller, Tim Nolan, Jenny Putman, Elizabeth Renaud, Lauri Rowe, Carolyn Sherwood, Gina Sherwood, Ellen Vollmar, Kat Whaley and Joanne Zielke.

Marshall resident and longtime performer John Marsh also stepped forward to pose for a giant photo of Lady Ulrika Monmont, founder of the fictitious quiche-baking society.

“We can’t wait to share this show with everyone, and everyone who comes will get involved in some way,” Forde said. “It’s very funny, satirical and tongue-in-cheek – the sort of 1950s sitcom where Lucy and Ethel get trapped in a bank vault, but with a modern message about acceptance, tolerance and getting to know people for who they are, not imposing labels.

“The play is about recognizing that, even though we may share some things in common, we’re all individuals and should be respected for who and what we are,” Forde said. The play was the recipient of an award for best overall production during the 2012 International Fringe Festival in New York City.

“Sometimes we’re forced to wear masks because of the expectations society imposes on us, or we impose on ourselves,” Forde said. “The disaster that happens in the play brings these women together to support each other and reveal their true selves, whatever that might be.

“This seems to be an opportunity to open up a really timely discussion for any community, given what’s happening in the world today,” Forde said.

Tickets are available online at www.greatescapestagecompany.com.