T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — From left to right, Tyronda McMullen, Morgan Barbare and Stacie Sorenson star in the upcoming Marshalltown Community Theatre production of “The Drowning Girls,” which opens at the Miller Middle School Auditorium on Friday evening at 7 p.m. The show is directed by Lisa Naig.

In conjunction with Women’s History Month beginning on March 1, Director Lisa Naig sought to find a play that would fit well with the theme and found some “pretty intriguing photos” that convinced her “The Drowning Girls” would make a fitting production for Marshalltown Community Theatre.

The show tells the tale of three British women in the early 20th century who all met the same fate — murder at the hands of one man who married them in rapid succession. It stars just three actors: Tyronda McMullen as Bessie, Stacie Sorenson as Margaret and Morgan Barbare as Alice, and they all play multiple roles.

When asked what appealed to them about “The Drowning Girls,” McMullen said she’s always been interested in stories about murder, and Barbare watches crime documentaries to go to sleep at night. McMullen described her character as “in love with love,” and Sorenson said Margaret is an older woman who marries the mystery man less than a week after meeting him because she’s so afraid of becoming a spinster or a crazy cat lady.

“I just wanted somebody,” she says during the show.

Barbare’s Alice, the youngest of the three, runs away with him as an act of rebellion against her family. The husband’s face is never revealed during the show, but each of the three women play him at one point.

“They each play the landladies of each one of the rooms that they’re renting. They each play Scotland Yard Bobbies to investigate. They each play a parent or a sister or something like that, so it’s working through the entire stories of each one of them family wise (and) investigation wise,” Naig said.

“The Drowning Girls” opens at the Miller Middle School Auditorium on Friday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m., followed by subsequent performances on Saturday, March 1 at 7 p.m., Sunday, March 2 at 2 p.m., Friday, March 7 at 7 p.m., Saturday, March 8 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 9 at 2 p.m.

The cast offered potential spectators a trigger warning for marital violence, but Sorenson added that the show is “way funnier than it has any right to be.”

“The storyline is serious, but these (actors) also make it very entertaining and put a human element to each one of their characters,” Naig said.

Tickets can be purchased at https://marshalltowncommunitytheatre.org/events/the-drowning-girls/.