The play, a comedy written by Robin Roberts, is about a young woman who invites her boss over for dinner in hopes of getting a promotion. It seems that everything is destined to go wrong with this dinner, including accidents and family drama with a caterer.

This production is being directed by Stephanie Coble-Day and stars Jess Barkhaus, Kayla Harlow, Matt Caruth, AJ Smith, Kari Horn, Brandon McAtee, Tim Olson, and Linda Weiland.

When speaking with Coble- Day about the play and what drew her to it, she said “I’m trying to find shows that would appeal to our community and appeal to our membership. So you want something fun and light-hearted, but you want characters that have lots of layers and that are interesting.”

“This is a cast of eight, and the author does a really nice job of creating very well rounded characters,” she added. “So all eight are very well rounded characters, and it’s a fun story. It moves at a really fast pace, and it’s entertaining, and the dialog is sharp.”

-Submitted photo
The cast of "Dilemmas with Dinner" rehearses for the Hawkeye Community Theatre's upcoming performance.

One of the major story elements that drew Coble-Day to the play is the struggle of the character Brooke.

“It’s a farce, and it’s about a female junior executive trying to impress her boss in order to get a promotion,” she said. “Very typical, she’s worked really hard for the company. She’s coming up in the ranks. She wants to be able to have the status and the pay that she feels like she’s deserved because she’s committed so much to the company, and she’s feeling like she deserves this opportunity because of her hard work and everything that she’s brought into the company. So she’s trying to do that last push to impress her boss.”

Coble-Day described Brooke’s boss by saying “Will, Brooke’s boss, is the stereotypical chauvinistic CEO who is really not as smart and as impressive as he appears to be. His dialog is just funny and hilarious because it’s just ridiculous. He’s not articulate. He is not as clever as he appears. And this is just part of Brooke’s problems.”

Coble-Day also said ” I think all of the roles are interesting and fun and engaging and roles that actors can really get into.”

This aspect of the story makes the play feel very contemporary with Coble-Day commenting “The show was written in 2005 so it’s about 20 years old, but the themes of the show are still very relevant. You know, a female trying to prove to her boss that she is worthy of being a top executive. And whether it was 20 years ago or today, I still feel like that is a concern and an issue for women. You know that glass ceiling is still very much a major theme in today’s society.”

When speaking about what it is like to put on a production at Hawkeye Community Theatre, and what her experiences have been like, Day said ” It’s really fun. I don’t even know how many shows I’ve directed at this point, but I started directing in 2018 and since then, I’ve also been on the board. I was on the board for three years, and then I had a year off, and now I’m back on the board. The great thing about the board is that we’re all volunteers, and everybody who volunteers can help with production in some aspect or not. So we have people that build sets, we have people that do our programs. We have people that focus on social media and the promotion. We have people that help coordinate our March meal. This show, the March production, is also our dinner theater production. So we have a person that loves focusing on the meal and the presentation and that aspect of it. The exciting thing about Hawkeye is when I, as a director, pick a show and decide on what I want my set to look like, I talk to the board members and say, here’s my idea. I’m not good at drawing out a set, but I’m good at visualizing it. I have a meeting or two with them, and literally, within a few weeks, the set is built, and if I don’t like it, they’ll change it. And it’s just so fun and so fast. “

“It’s just a really great community for the arts, because we encourage people to get involved, whether it’s on the board, whether it’s acting, whether it’s just coming as an audience member,” she added. “This is an exciting cast for me, because there’s eight cast members, and two of them, AJ Smith and Matt Caruth, are brand new to Hawkeye as actors. So it’s always fun to get new people involved in a production. And you know, I think for them, it’s exciting to be a part of it, but also it can make them nervous.

“For AJ Smith, it’s a big part for him,” she said. “He’s never had as many lines, so he’s a little nervous about memorization. He’s talked to me and other actors about how you memorize, what are your tips? What are your tricks? And he’s been doing great. He is so funny in his role. He seems very relaxing in his role. So it’s just exciting to watch him grow and develop, not only in the character, but getting comfortable with the rest of us, because the other six of us have worked together in shows in the past, and so that’s been a lot of fun working with AJ and then Matt Caruth, who’s playing Donnie, Brooke’s husband, he’s new to our theater too, and this is a big role for him. So it’s interesting for him to go through the process and work on all the things, you know, to keep him comfortable and be prepared for performances. So it’s really great when you work with people you’ve known for the past. As mentioned, six of these actors I’ve worked with in our shows and I have the pleasure to work with them. Again, it’s so exciting.”

The show will run from March 12 to March 15 with a meal catered by Tea Thyme on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night shows. The shows will take place at 6 p.m. with the meals starting at 7 p.m. The show on Saturday will be at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at Hawkeye Community Theatre or online.