Photo Flash: First Folio Theatre's UNNECESSARY FARCE, Thru 3/4

First Folio Theatre, at Mayslake Peabody Estate, 31st St. & Rt. 83, now in its 15th season of bringing performances of Shakespeare and other classics to the Chicagoland suburbs presents the Chicago Premiere of Paul Slade Smith's side-splitting and bawdy comedy UNNECESSARY FARCE directed by Alison C. Vesely. UNNECESSARY FARCE runs through Sunday, March 4.

About the show: "When Billie and Eric, a pair of inept police officers, set up a sting operation to trap the crooked mayor, nothing can go wrong---unless everything goes wrong! Set in a pair of matching hotel rooms, UNNECESSARY FARCE is filled with doors slamming, clothes flying, and bagpipes bleating, all of which adds up to an over-the-top tale of mix-ups and mayhem that's laugh out loud funny from start to finish."

UNNECESSARY FARCE stars Erin Noel Grennan as Officer Billie Dwyer, Kevin McKillip as Officer Eric Sheridan, Molly Glynn as Karen Brown, Joe Foust as the deadly Todd, Jeannie Affelder as Mary Meekly, Raymond Fox as Agent Frank, and the legendary Dale Benson as Mayor Meekly.

Author Paul Slade Smith spent fourteen years in Chicago, working as an actor at First Folio (Much Ado About Nothing), and at Chicago Shakespeare, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Goodman, Marriott, Steppenwolf, and many others. Six months prior to joining the national tour of The Phantom of the Opera, Smith began the first draft of what would become Unnecessary Farce. Since its debut in 2006 at Michigan's BoarsHead Theater, Farce has been performed in seventy-five productions in countries including Canada, Great Britain and Australia, and translated into French and German. Smith is currently appearing as "Dr. Dillamond" in the national tour of Wicked, and working on his next play, A Real Lulu.

All performances take place at the Mayslake Peabody Estate, which is owned and operated by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. Indoor shows are presented in Mayslake hall, a 35-room Tudor Revival style mansion originally built by coAl Baron Francis S. Peabody. Completed in 1922, the mansion is on the National Registry of Historic Places. Located at 1717 W 31st St., just off Rt. 83, in Oak Brook, First Folio is easy to get to from either the East-West Tollway (I-88) or the Stevenson Expressway (I-55). Free parking is available on the grounds.

UNNECESSARY FARCE runs February 1 through March 4 Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sunday Matinees at 3 p.m. Tickets range $30-37 with special discounts for Students and Seniors. Tickets for preview performances are $22. Season subscriptions and individual tickets may be purchased by calling the box office at 630.986.8067 or online at www.firstfolio.org.

Steve Tryba and Richard Berman

Kate Danziger, Raymond Fox, Erin Noel Grennan, Beth Zupec, Joe Foust, Kevin McKillip, Jeannie Affelder, Molly Glynn, Angie Miller, Dale Benson, and Alison Vesely

Beth Zupec and Kate Danziger

John Bauer, Brian McKillip, and Richard Berman

Alison C. Vesely and Dale Benson

Erin Noel Grennan, Joe Foust, Raymond Fox, Molly Glynn and Kevin McKillip

Brian and Kevin McKillip

Alison C. Vesely and David Rice