As part of its adult-focused After Dark series, Theater Works will present “5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche” from Jan. 20 to Feb. 12 in the McMillin Blackbox Theater at Peoria Center for the Performing Arts, 10580 N. 83rd Drive.

Winner of the 2012 NYC International Fringe Festival as Best Overall Production, New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley wrote that “a quiche is a mighty thing, as powerful and blessed as womanhood itself. Such, in any case, is the lesson to be culled from ‘5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche,’ a frolicsome little play.”

Directed by Virginia Olivieri and co-written by Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder, “5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche” finds five women assembled in a church basement (along with the audience) for the 1956 annual meeting of the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein’s annual quiche breakfast.

The normally idyllic gathering, where the motto is “no men, no meat, all manners,” is upended when the Society’s matriarchs must confront the startling revelation that an atom bomb may be falling on their fair city. As fears are confronted and confessions fly, the chipper ladies stay firm in their commitment that the quiche is a mighty thing and that one must “respect the egg.”

“5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche” stars Vanessa Nelson as Lulie, Stephanie Vlasich as Wren, Christine Ward as Ginny, Alexandra Utpadel as Dale, and Sarah White as Vern.

For those planning to see the show, Brantley also offered this bit of guidance: “And while you may well enjoy yourself heartily at “Quiche,” you may also wake up the next morning feeling as if you had danced in your underwear with a lampshade on your head.”

Suggested for audiences 16 and older, tickets are $40 and can be purchased at the box officem (boxoffice@theaterworks.org or at 623-815-7930. For ADA seating, call the box office.