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Adobe Theater brings stakeout comedy 'Unnecessary Farce' to stage

Jun. 5—Two rookie cops set up a stakeout in a cheap motel to snare an embezzling small-town mayor. When the videotape catches a bit of unrehearsed hanky-panky and a kilt-wearing, bagpipe-wielding hit man stumbles into the fray, pandemonium ensues.

The Adobe Theater is staging Paul Slade Smith's "Unnecessary Farce" on weekends from Friday, June 10 through July 3.

"Eight doors, two inept policemen, one inept detective, a mayor who has embezzled $16 million, an accountant who can't keep her clothes on and a Scottish mob boss," director Nancy Sellin said of the play's lineup. "It has no redeeming qualities except it's a really good time."

Sellin will direct a cast of seven, including Madelon Brown, Lewis Hauser, Miles Hughes, Sarah Kesselring, Antonio Trigo III, Lianne Walk and Eric John Werner.

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People dash in and out of rooms, slam doors and hide in closets.

Set in a Michigan motel, the play opens with two officers anxious to prove themselves through a successful sting operation. The pair arrive armed with a tower of donuts and recording equipment in the room next door to a bumbling Mayor Meekly. The mayor is set to meet with an accountant to discuss finances.

The eight doors slam, become inadvertently weaponized and repeatedly lock.

Highland hit man Todd's Scottish brogue grows progressively incoherent the angrier he gets.

"The whole thing is just to have a good time," Sellin said. "People going in and out of doors — it hardly passes as a plot. It's forget our troubles for two hours."

If you go

WHAT: "Unnecessary Farce" by Paul Slade Smith

WHERE: Adobe Theater, 9813 Fourth St. NW

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 12. Repeats on weekends through July 3. Pay-what-you-will 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 30.

HOW MUCH: $17-$20, plus fees at adobetheater.org