Unnecessary Farce

We knew we were in for a good time when long-time Denver favorite Jamie Horton noted in the program guide that there are eight doors in the set of this production. A good farce usually depends on such things, as well as brisk pacing and, as the director, Horton, also notes, "ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances."

Caitlin Wise as Officer Billy Dwyer and Stuart Gates as Officer Eric Sheridan Photo: John Gary Brown

Paul Slade Smith's Unnecessary Farce has all these and a few new wrinkles, including a double set of doors between adjoining, mirror-image motel rooms, occasional tidbits of uncannily synchronistic dialogue in the opposing quarters, a water pistol and some bagpipes, various "wardrobe challenges" (as per Janet Jackson's infamous publicity stunt), a couple of inept cops with videotaping equipment they hope to use to entrap the town's mayor, and a series of compromising sexual encounters that are often not what they seem to be.

Denver Center Theatre Company regulars Caitlin Wise (the competency-challenged rookie cop, Billy Dwyer) and Steven Cole Hughes (the morally conflicted Agent Frank), along with Stuart Gates (the reticent cop, Eric Sheridan), and Adrian Egolf (the sexy investigative plant, Karen Brown) lead a talented ensemble through this delightful absurdity.

(L to R) Adrian Egolf as Karen Brown, Stuart Gates as Eric Sheridan, and Steven Cole Hughes Agent Frank Photo: John Gary Brown

The new Lone Tree Arts Center received rave reviews for its opening musical events, though for this piece we found the stage too large and cavernous (Christopher Sousa-Wynn's finely detailed motel rooms are bigger than the real thing), with a means to shrink the proscenium and dampen the vast flyway required, as well as some needed tweaks to the acoustics in some areas of the auditorium—normal challenges for new performance spaces.

The Lone Tree Arts Center's presentation of Creede Repertory Theatre's Unnecesary Farce, directed by Jamie Horton, runs through September 25th. 720 509-1000 or www.LoneTreeArtsCenter.org.

Bob Bows