"Unnecessary Farce"

Theatre review
"Unnecessary Farce" at Cortland Repertory Theatre
Ithaca Times
July 29, 2009
654 words
"Get Smart"

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Get Smart

Mark Tedeschi

"Unnecessary Farce," by Paul Slade Smith. Directed by Kerby Thompson, with assistant director Corrine Grover. Starring Dustin Charles, Crystal Rona Peterson, Morgan Reis, Mark Bader, Justin Theo Klose, Joshua Murphy, and Erica Livingston. With scenic designer Carl Tallent, costume designer Wendi Zea, lighting designer Kathryn Furst, and sound designer David Hubner.

Ah, the farce. Ribald repartee, spirited slapstick, doors galore. What's not to love? Unnecessary Farce, playing at Cortland Repertory Theatre through this Saturday, has all the ingredients an audience craves in a helping of drama's trustiest genre.

Paul Slade Smith's script focuses on comedy over storytelling, though the action paces fast throughout. Around the peppered-in exposition lies a charming, twisty plot involving espionage, political intrigue, and plenty of bedroom chaos. Director Kerby Thompson - also CRT's producing artistic director - ensures the commotion's precise delivery.

The inventive set, designed by Carl Tallent, mimics a duo of adjacent motel rooms, each with a closet and a bathroom, divided by an invisible wall and adjoined by a door - technically, two - bringing the entry/exit count to a grand total of eight. The organic lighting, designed by Kathryn Furst, equally validates the milieu.

The right-hand room is occupied by Eric Sheridan, a nervous, reticent cop played by a mustachioed Dustin Charles (no stranger to farce at CRT) and his ambitious partner Billie (Crystal Rona Peterson), so excited to be part of an undercover operation that she just had to wear her police uniform. Their mission: capture video evidence of Mayor Meekly (Mark Bader) meeting next door with his accountant, Karen Brown (Morgan Reis), reportedly so he can bribe her to cover up his embezzlement.

Karen is privy to the sting, and her platonic meeting with Eric the previous night sparked an apparently never-lit fuse in her libido. Reis and Charles nail the awkward combination of Karen's newfound sensual energy with Eric's carnal timidity, and the characters spend much of their alone time losing the fight to postpone jumping each other's bones.

The plan faces further complication when Agent Frank steps in. He's head of security for the Mayor and played with bipolar emotion by CRT newcomer (and hopefully future repeat performer) Justin Theo Klose; he's torn between his sense of Town Hall duty and an allegiance to a powerful crime syndicate called the Scottish Clan and its mysterious leader known only as Big Mac.

It gets weirder. The head assassin for the Scottish Clan is nicknamed the Highland Hitman, a menacing moniker compared to his given name: Todd. As Todd, Joshua Murphy, tall and insistent, thickens his Scottish accent on cue, rendering it indecipherable when his character becomes angry or flustered. Billie discovers a knack for decoding Todd's jargon; one translation turns into a long tongue-twister that Peterson delivers flawlessly.

When Todd first appears, he's wearing a sharp suit and sunglasses, but we've already learned of his penchant for carrying out executions in full traditional Scottish garb. When the time comes, costume designer Wendi Zea has him in a kilt, knee socks, a fuzzy headdress, a baggy-sleeved shirt, and a "man purse" - he even dons bagpipes. (Additional recognition goes to Zea for underwear design, as there's quite a lot of disrobing in the show.)

In the second act, we meet the Mayor's wife, Mary Meekly (Erica Livingston, fresh from her "Damn Yankees" stint), a polite old lady combing the motel to locate her husband, who's been catching everyone at the wrong moment. Bader allows Mayor Meekly to live up to his name - earnest and humble, he responds to bedlam with a calm grace.

I have two small grumbles, and one regards the characters' lack of intelligence. Farce characters generally aren't known for their perspicacity, but in this play, their denseness often seems too exploited for Smith's intentions of telling a semi-believable story with credible characters. Similarly, the repeated jokes become tired the more they occur ("That's clan... with a C!"), especially when they deal with sex (e.g. Mayor Meekly's frequent habit of stepping into a room with a struggle occurring on the bed).

But despite the rampant lunacy, Unnecessary Farce is a smart play and an enjoyable diversion. Paul Slade Smith is, for sure, a promising playwright who understands the undeniable necessity of farce.


Crystal Rona Peterson, Joshua Murphy and Justin Klose in the Cortland Repetory Theatre’s production of ‘Unnecessary Farce.’ (Photo provided)