The Kink-ADE Underground cast performed the comedic play “Cooking with Lard” on Oct. 15 and Oct. 16. 

“Cooking with Lard” was set in a small Texas town. Addie’s Cafe, where most of the play takes place, serves “down-home” cookin’ alongside a “down-home” outlook on life, according to the playbill. 

“It is all about the relationships between the characters. It’s a small town, but the women are all connected by this one restaurant,” sophomore and cast member Cami Culbertson said. 

The many different characters come in and out of the dinner, playing bingo, rehearsing a drill team show or selling Girl Scout cookies. All the women in Addie’s Cafe have their own problems and lives. But when El Rita Talbot’s husband turns up dead, every lady points a finger at someone different. 

The lovable characters show companionship and what a close-knit community is all about with their outlandish humor.

“My favorite part of the play was the Belinda and Lomalee scene with the drill team girls because the writing of that scene was so brilliant and funny,” sophomore and cast member Reese McMullen said. “We had a really good time playing those characters and figuring out what their relationship is.”

The play’s deeper meaning is how the characters are always there for one another and how friendship is the most important thing. “Cooking with Lard” also promotes strong female friendships.

“Cooking with Lard” was directed by theater manager Ms. Frances Limoncelli. 

The cast began rehearsing in August after school started. When rehearsals began, the cast did a lot of tablework and discussed their characters on a deeper level. The students gave their characters backstories and developed their character’s journeys as women. 

Cami Culbertson explained how McMullen and sophomore Payton Daly, who played the elderly ladies Eloise and Francis, came up with intricate backstories for their characters. 

“They both had this idea that their characters have been friends forever,” Culbertson described. “That was able to give the story a more genuine feel. 

“The most important part of the play was the Frances and Eloise scene because it showed no matter what age, people will always be there for each other even if it meant stepping out of their comfort zone,” McMullen said.