May the farce be with you

Those who love roller coasters don’t ride them for the surprises. They ride them for the thrills they know ahead of time are coming in those steep ups and stomach churning downs. And those who love farce don’t expect to be surprised — they expect to laugh. They also know that if it’s a purebred farce, there will be six to eight slamming doors, cross purposes, mass hysteria, and at least two people who have lost their pants. And if this farce is done as it should be done, the timing will be razor-edged and the laughs will come even when you know what’s coming.

Paul Slade Smith, himself an actor, has written his latest script, “Unnecessary Farce,” as a gift for actors. He knows what’s fun to do on stage (if you have the energy for it) and indulges all the whims that suggest themselves when you have two hotel bedrooms adjoining one another and eight doors to slam. Wayside Theatre has just opened this head-spinning little nugget and all I can say to director Warner Crocker by way of comfort is: I’ll bet you thought tech week would kill you, and look — it didn’t.

This one doesn’t quite go on the same shelf as “Lend Me a Tenor” and “Noises Off,” two of the great ones that I know are great because I was laughing too hard to take notes — and I’ve seen them each in several different venues. “Unnecessary Farce” has the requisite simple setup with comic possibilities in its DNA. Two small town cops have been assigned to work undercover in a hotel room. The town’s mayor, suspected of embezzlement, is scheduled to meet with the town accountant in the room next door where she will, according to plan, worm a confession out of him and the cops will get it on tape.

If this were “FBI. Files,” the plan would work and the good guys would get what they want after a little bloodshed. But this is farce, which means that messages are missed, the wrong person is accused, one cop is in love with the accountant, people pop in and out unannounced, clothes go astray, and in one climactic moment of absurdity, four people point four guns at each other. But that’s not the best part. The best part is a newcomer to the Wayside stage, Dustin Loomis as Todd, the Highland Hitman, a tall, kilted Scotsman with a thick buttered brogue that will send tickles up your spine. When he gets angry — and so many things seem to make him angry — his speech becomes incomprehensible. His performance is the linchpin of the show.

Always versatile Wayside regular Larry Dahlke handles his role of incompetent cop, Eric Sheridan, with maximum competence. He is especially entertaining in his tentative foray into the role of alpha male /jealous boyfriend in order to intimidate the bumbling Agent Frank (Matthew Baldoni). His partner, Billie Dwyer, (played by Dacia Dick) is even less competent. Miss Dick does a remarkable speed interpretation of the Hitman’s rapid fire Scottish burring, but otherwise plays every scene with category five hysteria. This is a gentle reminder that when you go over the top from the very beginning, you have nowhere else left to go. A bit more variation in the timbre of the performance would serve well.

Poor Karen Brown, an accountant who’s all about competence and propriety, just can’t seem to keep her clothes on. Leah Raulerson is a joy in this roll and finds an entertaining balance between her dedication to duty and her lust for bumbling cop No. 1, Eric Sheridan. Unfortunately for her, she sometimes finds herself “undercover” even when things are not what they seem. But things are never quite what they seem in a good farce. Desperate struggles on the bed look like sex to Mayor Meekly who keeps wandering in and politely apologizing in his signature die-away voice before wandering out again. James Laster gives his best bow-tied, slightly addled performance as the mayor with a secret.

His wife, Mary, (Barbara Callander) has secrets, too, but keeps hers under the cover of a wispy, sweet-little-old-thing facade. Ms. Callander packs a wallop and does some sprightly physical work in the final bedroom showdown.

Til Turner’s set blends the reality of location with the tone of comedy in two symmetrical, nondescript but comfortable hotel rooms and eight solid doors. It’s a study in utilitarian design made complete with Adam Gearhart’s lights and Tamara Carruthers’ costumes.

It takes expert handling to make difficult things look easy, and the crucial timing in pieces such as this calls for serious work. Stage directions require pinpoint accuracy which I’m happy to say is a triumphal feature of “Unnecessary Farce,” and the rapid fire dialogue flows in overlapping and dovetailed conversations, points and counterpoints without missing a beat.

Sure, it’s unnecessary, but it’s funny, fast, and furious. Best of all, it’ll make you laugh out loud.

Margaret Lawrence is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association. She teaches drama and English at CCHS.

Want to go?
What: “Unnecessary Farce”
Where: Wayside Theatre Middletown.
Call: (540) 869-1776 or visit
waysidetheatre.org.
Playing through Sept. 27