Events and Activities : ACT 1 plans auditions for \'Red Velvet Cake War\' Jan. 5-6

Auditions for “The Red Velvet Cake War” will be held January 5th from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and January 6th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. These will take place at the Act I Centre at 905 E Avenue Vinton, Iowa (Please enter using the West door). The casting call is for adults who must be able to play 30 years or older; ten roles are available.

About the play

In this riotously funny Southern-fried comedy, the three Verdeen cousins—Gaynelle, Peaches and Jimmie Wyvette—could not have picked a worse time to throw their family reunion.

Their outrageous antics have delighted local gossips in the small town of Sweetgum (just down the road from Fayro) and the eyes of Texas are upon them, as their self-righteous Aunt LaMerle is quick to point out. Having “accidentally” crashed her minivan through the bedroom wall of her husband’s girlfriend’s doublewide, Gaynelle is one frazzled nerve away from a spectacular meltdown.

Peaches, a saucy firebrand and the number one mortuarial cosmetologist in the tri-county area, is struggling to decide if it’s time to have her long-absent trucker husband declared dead. And Jimmie Wyvette, the rough-around-the-edges store manager of Whatley’s Western Wear, is resorting to extreme measures to outmaneuver a priss-pot neighbor for the affections of Sweetgum’s newest widower.

But the cousins can’t back out of the reunion now. It’s on and Gaynelle’s hosting it; Peaches and Jimmie Wyvette have decided its success is the perfect way to prove Gaynelle’s sanity to a skeptical court-appointed psychologist.

Unfortunately, they face an uphill battle as a parade of wildly eccentric Verdeens gathers on the hottest day of July, smack-dab in the middle of Texas tornado season.

Things spin hilariously out of control when a neighbor’s pet devours everything edible, a one-eyed suitor shows up to declare his love and a jaw-dropping high-stakes wager is made on who bakes the best red velvet cake.

As this fast-paced romp barrels toward its uproarious climax, you’ll wish your own family reunions were this much fun!