DES MOINES, Iowa  —  Thursday is opening night for the first production in a brand-new theater company called Theatre Midwest. Theatre Midwest is committed to telling stories set in the Midwest and specifically telling the stories of underrepresented voices of women and people of color. That is true in their first production, “The Friendly Hour.”

“This deals with farm women in South Dakota over the course of 70 years, those stories don’t get told very often but as we find in this play and several others, it’s a very fascinating story that has to do with a lot of things that I think people are interested in whether they are from the Midwest or not,” Theatre Midwest Producing Artistic Director and Director of “The Friendly Hour” Tom Woldt said.

The show is based on the real meeting minute notes of a social club of women at that time. They deal with issues related to family, relationships, finance, racism, and gender discrimination.

The actors believe people will be able to recognize people they know because of a sort of midwestern context of the show.

“The way that the women talk around certain difficult subjects, the way that certain compliments may have a bit of a backhanded quality or said with a smile, the way that love is shown with food, all of these things are relevant to us and recognizable as Midwesterners,” actress Emily Solo said.

Tickets range from $20 to $30 but there is an opportunity to get free tickets through a new strategy called Radical Hospitality. There will be 40 free tickets available 90 minutes before each show.

“The Friendly Hour” is playing at the Viking Theater at Grand View University Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. On Sunday, for Mother’s Day, if you buy one ticket, you get your mom’s tickets half off.