A dinner party is about to go all wrong on the stage of Hawkeye Community Theatre.

From Wednesday through Saturday, Hawkeye Community Theatre will be performing the play “Cahoots.” The play was written by Rick Johnson and stars Matthew McColley, Linda Weiland, Jess Barkhaus, Rex Daisy, and Kari Horn.

The play, directed by Jeff Bluml, is a comedy about a dinner party that takes a fatal turn. Afterwards, things can only get worse and funnier.

“It’s a murder mystery with a lot of murder and not a whole lot of mystery.” said Bluml.

“I like shows that kind of push the envelope a little bit, shows that will push the actor into a character that’s completely opposite of what their own personality is,” he added. “I’ve got five really great people here. I’ve known them for a long time, and I know for a fact that none of them would ever be a murderer until this show. And then to watch them go start out having a dinner party to them making some of the worst decisions they could possibly make in their lives, and as long as you’re making one bad decision, why not make some more.”

Bluml has been a member of the local theater scene since 2000.

“I did my first HCT show in the year 2000 and I’ve been involved in one way or another ever since,” he said. “The stage is one of the few places you can make a complete fool of yourself and people will applaud … sometimes you’ll even get handed an award.”

When speaking about his experiences as both a director and an actor in community theater, Bluml said, “The difference between acting and directing is, as an actor, you’re responsible for all the memorization and doing the part as best that you can. The director, on the other hand, you’ve got to instill what you think the character is into people that don’t think like you do. And you have some actors that like dark comedies, you have other ones that are, ‘Well, I’ve never done this before, so I’m not sure how this works,’ but from my side, I like being able to take people that you know would never be in that situation, and then make it so that by the end of the show, you’ve convinced the audience and themselves that they are these characters they portray.”

Bluml said his job is to help the actors embody the character.

“So and from the director’s side of it, you have to be able to know how each one of those characters is and how you want them to portray your idea,” he said. “Now, some actors can do it very well, and other ones, you know, might struggle with that because it’s foreign to them, but it’s fun to try to get them to take on that role. And I think that’s what the director does: you get them to take on your ideas, and then at a certain point, you just cut loose and you’ll let them run with it.”

If You Go

What: Hawkeye Community Theatre’s “Cahoots”

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday;

2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Hawkeye Community Theatre, 521 N. 12th St.

Admission: $10