Messes dealt with in Wichita Community Theatre’s latest, ‘The Wild Women of Winedale’

You can’t help but notice the set decorations of Wichita Community Theatre’s latest, “The Wild Women of Winedale.”

“There’s a big mess and everyone can identify with that, having to clear out a household — whether it’s your parents or your brother-in-law’s or you’re packing away to go to college,” said Crystal Meek, who plays one of three sisters in the Wild family, from Winedale, Virginia.

The mess is not only physical but emotional, as changes are going on in the lives of Meek’s Fanny, Dona Lancaster’s Willa and their sister-in-law Johnnie Faye, played by Jami Thomas.

“There’s a conflict going on that she’s carried for many, many years,” Lancaster said of her character. “Her sister tells her she can’t change the past and she says, ‘True, but I can dwell on it till I’m old and bitter.’”

“Wild Women,” which opens Thursday (July 29) is from the prolific playwright trio of Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, credited with dozens of plays — many of them farcical comedies — embraced by community theaters nationwide, including WCT.

This play, Meek said, has a wider range of emotion than many of the trio’s others.

“It has a little more reality in it because of what the characters are going through,” she said.

“It’s all of these women going through a significant part of their life where they can’t decide what they’re going to do next,” Thomas said. “They’re widowed, they’re divorced, and their jobs are changing. They have to figure out how to stand on their own and decided what they want to do. It’s got a nice message of hope and perseverance, but it’s also got all of the situations that each of them encounters.”

The all-female cast of nine actresses includes several monologues based on a video project Meek’s character is making for the Museum of Virginia.

“Attorneys, moms, social workers, each person gets up and tells about their lives. That’s one of the big highlights of this show,” she said. “You hear these other female voices.”

“The Wild Women of Winedale”

When: July 29 to Aug. 8; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Wichita Community Theatre, 258 N. Fountain

Tickets: $13 Thursdays; $15 adults and $13 students/military/seniors (60 and older) Fridays-Sundays, by calling 686-1282