Believable chaos results in ‘Unnecessary Farce’

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Erin Noel Grennan, (from left,) Joe Foust, Kevin McKillip and Molly Glynn in "Unnecessary Farce."

Paul Slade Smith of Oak Park was the first to laugh at “Unnecessary Farce,” the comedy now on stage at Mayslake Peabody Estate. Years later, the playwright said he laughed again as he watched actors from First Folio Theatre prepare his play for the Oak Brook stage.

“I sat in on the first week of rehearsals,” Smith said, and found the play every bit as hilarious as when he created it.

Smith’s quick-paced comedy, described by critics as “two hours of non-stop laughter,” features the antics of Billie and Eric, a pair of inept police officers who set up a sting operation to trap their town’s crooked mayor.

The audience looks on as everything that can go wrong does.

“It doesn’t take long before everything starts to fall apart,” said Erin Noel Grennan, for whom the part of Billie was written. Grennan is married to Smith, and suggested while he was writing “Unnecessary Farce” that one of the leads be written for a woman.

Top cop

Grennan debuted her character at the play’s world premiere in Michigan in 2006. The last time she donned her badge and billy club was 2007.

“It’s as good as it is because
she is doing it,” Smith said of his wife’s portrayal of the inept rookie cop. “It’s a smart, talented, funny cast.”

The hilarious action, which includes plenty of slamming doors, flying clothes and even bagpipes, takes place in two adjoining hotel rooms.

“Things happening in one room have an impact on the other room,” said Jeanne Affeider of Oak Park, who plays the mayor’s wife.

Good timing

Affeider said it takes a lot of careful planning to make all of this chaos believable. For that, she credits not only the actors’ comedic timing, but the expertise of fight choreographer Joe Foust.

Foust also plays one of the comedy’s three crooks.

“I can’t tell you how grateful we are to have him in the show,” said Director Alison Vesely.

Vesely said she had been waiting for the right time to stage “Unnecessary Farce” since she and husband David Rice traveled to Michigan for its world premiere.

“We loved it,” she said. And even though the work strays a bit from the theater’s typical repertoire, she said the audience will be laughing too hard to mind.

“In the middle of winter there’s nothing better than an evening full of laughter,” Vesely said.