Courtland Rep Theatre Presents The Cop Comedy UNNECESSARY FARCE 7/22-8/1
Cortland Repertory Theatre will serve up "arresting" laughs with the New York State professional premiere of the cop comedy "Unnecessary Farce" by Paul Slade Smith, which runs from July 22 - August 1. Smith, who is also an actor currently on national tour with the Broadway musical "Wicked", was named one of "50 to Watch - writers of exceptional merit and promise" by The Dramatist Magazine. Producing Artistic Director Kerby Thompson, who will also direct this production, notes that it is always exciting to bring a new show to the area. "I was first introduced to this play by our mutual friend, Brian Runbeck, an actor at CRT who will be starring in ‘Gross Indecency' later in the season," he says. "'Unnecessary Farce' is such a well written comedy that I knew we had to do it. Finding a new farce is a challenge, so we jumped on this one when we had the chance!" Thompson previously directed CRT's top selling production of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" last summer, and other comedies such as "Greater Tuna" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum".
This comedy takes place in two adjoining rooms in a cheap hotel in a small U.S. city. An embezzling major is supposed to meet with his female accountant, while in the room next-door, two undercover, and rather incompetent, police officers wait to catch the meeting on videotape. The mayor's bodyguard, who's actually afraid of his own shadow, tries to protect the mayor and unknowingly spills the beans on a more complicated plot. By the time the mayor's wife walks in, there's some confusion as to who's in which room, who's being videotaped, who's taken the money, who's hired a Scottish, bagpipe-playing hit man, and why the accountant keeps taking off her clothes. "I actually consider it a ‘smart farce'" Thompson says. "Everything that happens makes logical sense, but in the heightened reality of a comedy like this, the pace and timing makes the situations hysterical."
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