RSS 2.0 FeedJune 17, 2009, Theatre
Farce or Fiction?
Produced by the American Heartland Theatre and directed by William J. Christie, the show "Unnecessary Farce" claims to be a laugh-out-loud comedy. But from my perspective, the play needed some work.
The show features "two likable cops operating out of their league, a possibly crooked mayor and his innocent acting wife, a shy accountant with a tendency to drop her drawers, a double agent who'd like to get IN those drawers, and a Scottish hit man with a brogue that gets thicker the angrier he gets." OK, it sounds funny. How could it miss? Especially with a talented cast, and a playwright, Paul Slade Smith, who in 2007 was named one of "50 to Watch -- writers of exceptional merit and promise" by The Dramatist magazine.
But sometime in the first act, I started to get restless. And by the second act, I was having déjà vu. The same things kept happening over and over. How many times can a man drop his pants before it's not funny anymore? How many times can the mayor burst in on an awkward situation before the audience starts yawning? When you stretch out a one-minute gag to last 15, it will be funny only for the first minute. Paul Slade Smith's script was not very well crafted.
Perhaps I'm being too hard on the playwright. After all, it's the responsibility of the director and actors to turn the writer's lines into something of significance. But there were times when actors moved simply because they were told to, as when female cop Billie, played by Jill Szoo, hops up to a set of doors while tied up but doesn't attempt to open them and escape. Or when the mayor, Kevin Albert, wanders in and out of the hotel rooms for no discernible reason other than the script said so.
The actors did well enough. Craig Benton received a few chuckles as Agent Frank, and was an interesting character to watch. Kevin Albert was enjoyable as Mayor Meekly, although one couldn't help but feel that his character should have been more prominent in the play. Jessalyn Kincaid enthusiastically played Karen Brown, an accountant whose part consisted of dressing and undressing. Jill Szoo had some agreeably silly quirks and phrases as the female cop. John Wilson played the main character, Eric Sheridan, with good-natured bumbling. Zach Woods, the Scottish hit man, was silly, but not frightening enough to be convincing. Cynthia Hyer, as the mayor's wife, functioned as a kind of deus ex machina.
Alex Perry's set was a creative solution to the problem of two hotel rooms with adjoining doors. Complete with closets, bathrooms, hallways and adjoining doors, it was a fair replica of a normal hotel -- although almost too spacious. Up by the doors the action was cramped, yet the downstage playing area had a lot of rarely used open space. Perhaps the furniture needed to be rearranged to better suit the thrust stage.
The naturalistic lighting was by Shane Rowse, and I enjoyed the dimmer lights in the hallway and bathrooms (often the case in hotels). Paul Hough's costumes were serviceable, but there were some small details, like wrinkles and lack of pantyhose, that took away from the design. Roger Stoddard did well with the sound, especially the playback from the cops' video footage.
I wish I could find more things to praise. After all, it wasn't a terrible show, just bland. The audience seemed to have a good enough time. But considering the time spent, the show was simply unnecessary.
REVIEW
Unnecessary Farce
By Paul Slade Smith
A Kansas City Premiere
Crown Center, 3rd Level
2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO
www.ahtkc.com.
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