Six eggs, 1 ½ cup chopped onion, 1 cup chopped tomato, ½ cup mushrooms, 1 cup chopped green bell pepper, 1 ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, but without a doubt NO meat whatsoever. This would be a proper recipe for baking a quiche according to five lesbians. 

On Friday, Feb. 21 I got to see the premiere showing of the student-run theater company, Stage 2, production of Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder’s 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche. 

In a statement made by director Zoe Koep in the play bill, “This show takes the beauty and fear of showing the world who you love and wraps it up in a silly quiche filled bow.”

5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche takes place in 1956 at the annual “Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein” quiche breakfast. The play features five widows: Lulie, Wren, Ginny, Dale and Vern. Theyo are the council women of the society. However, there is a big secret they all have about their true identity. 

One aspect of this play that I really enjoyed was the audience’s role in it. The audience is supposed to be the rest of the widows at the annual quiche breakfast. Several times throughout the show they would have the audience respond back to questions and comments they made. For example, complimenting one of the women on their outfit.  

An ongoing bit that I enjoyed was the characters hating on a widow in the audience who they gave the name “Margery.” They’d call her out for the quiche she made last year that had meat in it. And the main rule the society had was “No men, no meat, all manners.” 

The womens’ obsession with quiche and the way they describe them tenderly and their ambition to eat them make you wonder if they’re actually talking about quiche or something else. At one point, Ginny can’t help herself and dives face first into a quiche as the other women watch with admiration. It seemed like Ginny was really suppressing herself from enjoying eating quiche. 

In a sudden turn of events, an atomic bomb goes off outside and leaves the widows trapped inside the community center, which doubles as a safety bunker. Even though they have enough food to last them for four years, tragically, the rest of the quiches from the breakfast were left outside. Now, they’re only left with the winning quiche from the breakfast. 

Soon enough the women start to reveal the secrets of their true identity. It turns out none of them are widows, but in fact, are actually lesbians. Who could’ve seen this coming? In a twist of events, it turns out Lulie is actually pregnant, and to further the antics, the father of this unborn child is actually Dale’s estranged father. 

The women realize that with everyone in the outside world having been obliterated by the bomb it is now up to them to repopulate society once they emerge again. And even crazier, they realize they’ll have to repopulate the world with the unborn child in the future if he’s a boy. So now, it’s up to the strength and courage of lesbians to repopulate the world with the son of one of their fellow lesbians. 

With only one quiche left and a possible baby boy on the way, they have to send one of them outside to retrieve the other quiches so there’s enough for the boy. Because according to them, a boy needs his eggs. 

Unfortunately when Dale is sent out to retrieve the quiches, she gets locked out and the others aren’t able to open the door again. In a tragic, but comedic way, Dale ends up exploding from the radiation, with her blood splattered against the window. The play ends with the four other women saluting Dale’s bravery and singing their society's theme song. 

The innuendos they use throughout the show involving eating quiches, having eggs and not liking meat made me laugh out loud from beginning to end. The comedic timing of the actors paired with their flirtatious interactions added to the great humor of the play. The jokes also tied into our country’s current political climate, which is the type of fourth wall breaking I appreciate. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this play and it is one of my favorites that Stage 2 has put on. I think the production couldn’t have come at a better time with the current uncertainty and worries that people of the LGBTQ+ community are facing. The play combines humor, fourth-wall breaking, great costumes and great acting that make the perfect recipe for a good show. 

Additionally, I liked what Koep further stated in the play bill. He said, “The stories conveyed on this stage show that the queer community has always been here and always will be. I urge you to continue to preserve, fight and lead with love.”

I look forward to their next, and final show, of the season  “Stop Kiss,” running April 4 through the 6. For more information about Stage 2, visit stage2duluth.com or follow them on Instagram.