Such a scenario would no doubt be a horror for event organisers-turned-matchmakers, but it is one which will be acted out for the community tomorrow night.
Karen Trebilcock, who writes under the pen name Ella West, will make her adult play debut when The Middlemarch Singles Ball premieres at the Strath Taieri hall in front of 200 invited guests.
"The play is about the singles ball committee and what happens when they sell all the tickets, but only to women, because all the Middlemarch men have been married off at the previous balls," she said.
She wrote it two years ago, but failed to secure funding, so she turned to the community and held secret auditions for its four main parts.
Codee MacDonald, Gordon Wilson, Robyn Harcus and Alistair Hope won the committee roles. While some of them performed in school productions, the play would be their first serious acting gig.
Mr Hope, a sheep farmer, said he had practised his lines while driving his tractor, and said the hardest part was learning his cues.
Mrs Trebilcock said it would be "scary" sitting among the public as they watched her play about their community, but said they had been very supportive.
"This is an event for the community to thank them for putting the ball on," she said.
