Curtain Call: Unnecessary Farce: McLeod Offers Madness, Mayhem, and Merriment

When two rookie cops, three bungling crooks, an over-sexed accountant, and a kilt-wearing hitman collide in a cheap motel with eight doors, what will happen is anybody's guess, and discovering what will happen is everybody's laugh, in Unnecessary Farce. Paul Slade Smith's modern American comedy will kick off the McLeod Summer Playhouse season June 17, 19, 25, and 27 in McLeod Theatre.
Unnecessary Farce premiered at Lansing, Michigan's Boarshead Theater in 2006. In the tradition of modern-day comedies like Noises Off (but American), Unnecessary Farce turns one set and seven characters into a backdrop for two acts of giggling mischief.
Officers Billie Dwyer and Eric Sheridan are sent to the local motel of a small midwestern town, armed with nothing but their wits and video cameras, hoping to catch the mayor and his female accountant in an embezzlement scheme. However, no sooner does the stakeout begin then problems erupt. First, Billie is spotted by Mayor Meekly in the lobby. Meanwhile, Eric and the Mayor's lovely cohort in crime, Karen Brown, who have shared their own romantic tryst just hours before the stakeout, begin to rekindle their sexual passions in Karen's room-- as fate would have it, adjacent to the room where Billie is taping. After discovering her error, Billie attempts to erase the tape, but befuddled by the complicated remote control, she manages to press the wrong button-- which results in the tape playing over and over again, just as Mayor Meekly enters the room.
The mayor is accompanied by Town Hall Chief of Security Agent Frank, who warns the officers that anyone who attempts to locate or recover the embezzled funds will incur the wrath of Todd "The Highland Hitman," a member of the local Scottish mafia whose calling card is to don a kilt and play the bagpipes before committing a murder. Meanwhile, in the middle of all of this, the Mayor's wife arrives, leading Eric and Billie to wonder if she is there out of concern for her husband, or if she is involved in the embezzlement plot.
Meanwhile, Billie has discovered a duffel bag with a kilt and a set of bagpipes in it, indicating that Todd the Highland Hitman is in the area, and her life may be in danger.
Will the embezzled money be recovered? Will Billie's life be saved from the clutches of the bagpipe-playing killer? Will Eric and Karen get to finish their interrupted business? Will the police be able to find the real crooks? These questions and more are answered in Unnecessary Farce.
Evening performances take place at 7:30 p.m. The performance on June 27 is a matinee beginning at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 for general admission, or $10 for students. For tickets or more information, stop by the theater box office on the south side of the Communications Building, call (618) 453-3001, or visit .