Go! feature

Earlier this year, Heidi Schiller and her friend Dee Meyers went to a nearby dinner theater to see “Steel Magnolias.”

“Sometime during the evening the idea was hatched for us to try it ourselves,” Schiller said. And why not? Since Schiller is the director of the Fairfield Community Arts Center and Meyers the owner of All Things Catered, the major elements were already in place.

Schiller selected “Laundry & Bourbon,” like “Steel Magnolias” a play about Southern women, while Meyers planned a Souther-style menu for the first Fairfield Community Arts Center dinner theater this weekend. The event will be held in the Community Room.

Set in the mid-70’s, “Laundry & Bourbon” unfolds on the back porch of Roy and Elizabeth’s house in Texas, on a hot summer afternoon. Elizabeth and her friends Hattie and Amy Lee pass the time folding laundry, drinking bourbon and gossiping about the mean secrets of their small town.

“Infidelity is probably the biggest topic,” Schiller said. “Elizabeth’s no-good husband has been gone for two days — something he’s done periodically.

“He’s been back from Vietnam for a couple of years and it changed him. He can’t seem to find himself and she’s dealing with the aftermath.”

The play features Desiree McQuiddy as Elizabeth, Teresa Riestenberg as Hattie, and Lara Gonzalez as Amy Lee, with Schiller directing.

The menu includes a traditional 7-layer salad, oven-baked fried chicken, BBQ beef, southern-style beans, mashed taters, corn with herbs, and rolls. During intermission, guests will have a choice of southern-style banana pudding or chocolate mousse for dessert. Iced-tea, lemonade and coffee complete the meal.

• WHAT: “Laundry & Bourbon” by James McLure
• WHERE: Fairfield Community Arts Center, 411 Wessel Drive, Fairfield
• WHEN:  Doors at 6 p.m. today and Saturday, dinner at 6:30 p.m., show at 7:30 p.m.; doors at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, dinner at 1 p.m. and show at 2 p.m.
• COST: $25 adult; $20 senior/student
• MORE INFO: (513) 867-5348; www.fairfield-city.org