Fairfield Area Community Theater to open winter show tonight

FAIRFIELD - Theatergoers in Fairfield are in for a laugh this weekend as the Walton Club opens its latest show, Nana's Naughty Knickers.

Director Diana Flynn said the show is presented by the Fairfield Area Community Theater (FACT), an organization she has been a part of for 22 years.

'I've been in almost every show for those 22 years but when our resident director retired, then I took over those duties,” she said, noting she is also the president of the board.

Flynn said she has directed about eight shows and picked this show herself. The winter shows usually have smaller casts because they are in a dinner theater setting, she said.

In this show Flynn has nine cast members, which she says is a big cast for a winter show. However, the cast size was not daunting to her because the content of the show is what drew her in.

'It's a farce and I have this huge funny bone so most of the plays I direct are real silly because that's the sort of thing I like doing. Theater is meant to be fun and community theater is a lot of fun because most actors do it for the fun of it because it's not their profession, but they do it because they enjoy being on stage and entertaining,” she said.

The show is about a grandmother who lives in New York City in a rent-controlled apartment under the control of a landlord who is unhappy about that and looking for any reason to evict, she explained. Her granddaughter comes to New York to spend time with her but walks in to a big surprise.

'When she comes to New York she expects her grandma just to be a regular grandma, but come to find out her grandma's been running a lingerie business out of her apartment. She hasn't been charging any sales tax and she doesn't have a license to do it in New York, so this is a big reason that if the landlord finds out she's going to be in big trouble,” Flynn said. 'Therein ensues the hilarity.”

Flynn said the show is geared toward high school age students and up. For those on the fence about braving the cold weather expected for this weekend, Flynn said there is a good time to be had at the Walton Club and encourages everyone to come out and enjoy a night of fun and laughs.

'The troop that we have is well known in the area so they'll get to see the actors they have enjoyed in other shows,” she said. 'I just hope everyone comes out to see it because these folks put in so much of their own time to do this. It's community (theater) and no one gets paid for this job. They do it because they love it.”

The show will run Feb. 13-15 and 21-22 at 7:30 p.m. each night and Sunday, Feb. 23 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets will be available at Kim's Kottage, by calling: 641-469-5467.