HAILEY — Company of Fools is excited to announce "Dinners With Friends: Recipes for Storytelling" as part of the center’s current BIG IDEA project, "At the Table: Kitchen As Home," which celebrates the kitchen as a place of comfort and connection to our present and our past. This very special evening of reflection, food and the personal stories behind the creation of this award-winning theatre company will take place at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey. Although the event is free, reservations are required and a donation of $10 per person is suggested.

Before Company of Fools ever produced a play, its founding members spent a year preparing and eating meals together in the Richmond, Virginia, kitchen of company founder Rusty Wilson. The time they spent at Rusty’s table gave them an opportunity to discuss their collective desire to explore the world of storytelling through theatre. As they cooked, ate and shared ideas, they created a plan that led to the formation of a theatre company that is today an irreplaceable thread in the fabric of the Wood River Valley.

Led by COF founding members Joel Vilinsky and R.L. Rowsey, "Dinners With Friends" will gather the COF family to reflect upon the art of storytelling and the people, food and memories that have nurtured their creative lives. These kitchen musings will culminate in an intimate evening of shared laughter, tears and inspiration. In more ways than one, the interactive event will be a one-of-a-kind buffet.

“'At the Table: Kitchen As Home' explores how the things that happen in the kitchen have a profound impact on our lives,” Rowsey said. “We created Dinners with Friends to give the artists of COF a chance to connect with our audience by sharing personal stories from our own kitchens that have shaped who we are as artists and as human beings. The evening is sure to be a veritable lovefest.”

"Dinners With Friends" is limited to 75 guests and is most appropriate for those over the age of 16. To reserve space at this one-of-a-kind special evening, contact The Sun Valley Center for the Arts at 208-726-9491 or visit www.sunvalleycenter.org.