LYNN HAVEN — A culinary comedy of heartbroken hostesses opens the new year at Kaleidoscope Theatre.
"Kitchen Witches," directed by the team of Harley Benner and Bunnie Hibbard, is staged to appear that it takes place during "live studio taping" of a cable-access cooking show.
"Cooking shows are really popular right now, and I couldn't resist the script," Hibbard said. "And without the crew that we have, we'd literally be lost. Babs is our stage manager, and she has a crew of four girls that are spot-on with details. Since this is supposed to be a live studio taping, we've allowed them to be on stage as much as the cast to cook and clean around the dialogue. And not just during scene changes. As much as we can, we want to give the audience the feel that they're actually watching a live broadcast."
Benner and Hibbard divided the directorial duties to play to each other's strengths.
"The set is all her design, and cast and crew came together to put it up in just two weekends that also happened to contain Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve," Benner said. "She does lights, I do sound, and the two of us work with the actors. I know it helps both of us having that extra set of eyes to pick up on what the other one misses. I think it may make the cast a little crazy at times, especially as we approach opening night and we start to get really nit-picky."
Hibbard agreed that "the give and the take between us is one of the best parts of directing together. One will come up with an idea, and the other will better it. Or if there's something not flying, it's nice to have that second set of eyes to confirm."
The play follows Isobel "Izzy" Lomax and Dolly Biddle, two "mature" cooking show hostesses who have hated each other for 30 years — ever since Larry Biddle dated one and married the other. When circumstances put them together on a TV show called "The Kitchen Witches," their behavior mixes Martha Stewart with Jerry Stringer, and the show becomes a ratings smash.
"The insults and food fly throughout the show — we're going through about $20 worth of groceries per rehearsal right now," Benner said. "It's great fun and I would say family-friendly in a PG sort of way. Say, 12 and over."
"It's a comedy with a few twists, turns, a little depth, but mostly something for people to walk into and forget about their problems of the day, laugh a little and hopefully go home feeling better than they did when they came in," Hibbard said. "It has a little audience participation, which is always fun. You never know what might happen when you go unscripted."
As the play unfolds, Dolly's son Stephen, their long-suffering TV producer, tries to keep them on track, but as long as Dolly's dressing room is 1-inch closer to the set than Isobel's, it's a losing battle.
"As always, we lucked out with our cast," Benner said. "Our two witches, Izzy and Dolly, are played by Susan Creamer and Rita Jones, who are both having an absolute blast playing these roles. KT veteran Jason Betz plays Dolly's put-upon son and cooking show producer, Stephen. The four-person cast is rounded out by KT newcomer Doug Jones (no relation to Rita) who plays the Rob the camera guy."
Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday at 207 E. 24th St., Lynn Haven. Encores will be at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 12, 13, 19 and 20; and 2 p.m. on Jan. 14 and 21. Tickets range from $12-$18, and are available at KT-Online.org or by calling 850-265-3226.
A wine and hors d'oeuvres reception will take place after the premiere perfomance on Friday, allowing the audience to meet the cast.