UNNECESSARY, PERHAPS, BUT DELICIOUS!
Wikipedia defines farce as “a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable.” Director Robert May and his cast at Scripps Ranch Theatre make sure that is exactly what we’re getting from playwright Paul Slade Smith’s enchanting Unnecessary Farce.
Danny Lovelle and Brittany Adriana Carrillo
Police officer Eric (Danny Lovelle) is about to score big points with his never-seen boss, the Chief of Police, with whom he checks in frequently by phone. He’s about to take down Mayor Meekly (Danny Campbell) who has been ripping off the city to the tune of sixteen million dollars. Danny and his assistant, nervous rookie cop Billie (Brittany Adriana Carrillo) have booked adjoining motel rooms. The not-so-talented duo will be in Room 1 and the city’s new accountant Karen (Melanie Mino), who will be trying to yield a confession from the mayor, will be in Room 2, which features a camera hidden in a potted ficus plant, allowing the duo in Room 1 to see and record action in that room, but only the area around the bed which the camera is picking up; it’s significant to the plot that anything to the right or left of the bed is off screen.
Danny Campbell, Danny Lovelle, Robin Thompson
To say much more of the plot would take away from the wonderful surprises throughout and wouldn’t add a bit to your enjoyment. What can be said without spoilers is that Eric, Billie, and Karen’s plans go awry quickly and, as they are not always able to communicate, each time one improvises to try to steady the ship, they sink it a little further. All kinds of absurd choices and circumstances throughout add up to such great fun that Unnecessary Farce took me back to the feeling of the last ten minutes of the best of I Love Lucy episodes – except that we’re in that zone for most of the show.
Brittany Adriana Carrillo, Kat Fitzpatrick, Danny Lovelle
Carrillo has a lovely physical abandon reminiscent of Melissa McCarthy, making her as loveable as she is underprepared for this endeavor. Lovelle carries the show as the main character with terrific timing that has us rooting for him against all odds. Mino serves beautifully as what we, in the world of improvisation, call the “passenger” – someone who was not part of the problem but gets pulled into it; she is supposed to be just a plant to allow the officers to do their job but ends up central in not letting the entire operation fall apart. The cast of seven all play just one role each, but it’s more than enough to create tons of confusion, with more exits and entrances than a Trump administration cabinet. A particular standout is Nick Siljander who does an outstanding job of playing as a thickly-accented Scotsman who becomes unintelligible when angered to the point of speaking quickly. It’s not that he’s messing up the accent; it’s important to the plot that it sounds believably English-like but not quite to the point of following him; not easy to accomplish and the source of great entertainment.
Melanie Mino, Danny Lovelle
Some shows really make you think, make you feel, maybe even change the direction of your plans. This is not one of those shows. And that’s just fine, because, at this point in time, I’m grateful to Scripps Ranch Theatre for taking me away on a delightfully silly romp that got me laughing. A lot.
Nick Siljander, Robin Thompson
photos by Ken Jacques
Danny Lovelle
Unnecessary Farce
Scripps Ranch Theatre
on the campus of Alliant International University
9783 Avenue of Nations in San Diego
two hours with intermission
Fri & Sat at 7:30; Sat at 2
ends on June 15, 2025
for tickets, call 858.578.7728 or visit Scripps Ranch Theatre
