Barn Resounds with Laughter
Michigan native's play to be featured in Port Sanilac

Donald Lierman
Contributing Writer

If you believe that laughter is the best medicine, perhaps a few chuckles will help you forget the heat. Cool off with a few smiles and a lake breeze at Port Sanilac’s Barn Theatre this weekend.

A production of Paul Wade Smith’s nationally renowned “Unnecessary Farce” concludes its run, August 19-21, show times at 8.p.m.

“’Unnecessary Farce’ is a clever and funny script,” said Barn Theatre actor Kelly Kennedy. “The play is filled with outrageous physical comedy. The fact that the playwright, Paul Wade Smith, is from Michigan is fantastic. I commend the Barn Theatre for helping to promote homegrown playwrights.”

The synopsis of “Unnecessary Farce” is described by its web site, www.unnecessaryfarce.com, as:

The setting is two adjoining rooms in an economy motel. It is early morning. Two inexperienced police officers, Eric Sheridan and Billie Dwyer, have been sent to videotape a meeting between the local mayor and the town’s accountant, with the aim of uncovering an embezzlement scheme. But the day is not starting off well.

Billie has been spotted by the mayor in the motel lobby. And Eric and the accountant, Karen Brown, have just spent the night together, a fact they’re trying to keep secret. But when they start going at it again in Karen’s room, just as Billie – in the other room – accidentally begins videotaping them, things begin to unravel.

Billie attempts to erase the tape, but, flummoxed by the remote control, she only manages to start it playing again just as the mayor walks in – thereby establishing his honor’s uncanny knack for entering the room the moment anything sexually suggestive is happening.

The mayor is accompanied by Agent Frank – the head of Town Hall security – an impressively nervous man who warns the officers that anyone who dares to try to find the missing money will incur the wrath of a local mafia called the Scottish Clan. Agent Frank speaks with particular fear of a man named Todd – “The Highland Hitman” – a formidable villain, who always dons a kilt and plays the bagpipes before making a kill.

When Billie, momentarily alone, discovers a plaid duffel bag in the room – with a kilt inside – this straightforward investigation suddenly turns dangerous. Too frightened to answer Todd’s questions, Billie makes the Scotsman angry. And as he gets angrier, his accent gets thicker, until it’s impossible to understand a word he’s saying.

Meanwhile, the mayor’s wife has arrived. Is she merely concerned for her husband, or could she somehow be involved in the criminal plot?

Will the embezzled money be recovered? Can Billie be saved before Todd plays the bagpipes? Will Eric and Karen get to have sex? And can the cops manage to capture the crooks without resorting to… Unnecessary Farce?

The play is not recommended for young children. Ticket prices are $9 for side section seats and $10 for center section seats. The Barn Theatre is located at 242 S. Ridge Street in Port Sanilac. Box-office hours are from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday. For further information, call 810-622-9114.

“I’m thrilled to have been given the opportunity to make people laugh,” said Kennedy. “So come on out to The Barn … There may be bats, but there are even more laughs!”

Shakespeare Rocks Port Huron




By Donald Lierman
Contributing Writer

Billy Shakespeare was the gangsta rapper of his day.

Sex, blood and off-color humor prevail in his work. So, too, does love and tenderness.

Yet, these days, many feel his work is boring and out of time.

Not so.

Enter Stage Right (ESR) wants to bring the passion and timeliness of the bard to you. On Aug. 14, the inaugural Will on the Water festival will be held on the north lawn of Port Huron’s Municipal Office Center. The free event will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the downtown corners of McMorran and Merchant.

Don’t let the antiquated prose scare you.

“We are presenting scenes, rather than entire plays, that are fun and physical so people can get past the language part of it,” said Regina Spain, Managing Director of ESR. “Our goal is to emphasize the joy within the Bard’s work that sometimes gets obscured by his style.”

Will on the Water will showcase highlights from “Romeo and Juliet,” “Macbeth” and “The Taming of the Shrew.” An original performance will also be presented that illuminates the wealth of everyday phrases derived from Shakespeare’s writings.

“What makes this event special is that we do not type cast Shakespeare’s characters,” Spain said. “We look at the personalities of the actors and their skills rather than ‘play by the book’. For instance, the players portraying Mercutio and Tybalt from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ will be female.”

As well as performances on Port Huron’s very own Globe stage, a variety of interactive “Pageant Wagons” will allow the patrons to experience life in the days of Shakespeare. These include sword fighting and dancing. Also, “Stalls” will offer delicacies of the period and “Town Criers” will extol the virtues of the festival’s sponsors.

“We call it ‘User Friendly Shakespeare,’ because we want to emphasize the fun and vibrancy of his world,” said Elaine Schatzline-Behr, Artistic Director of ESR. “Remember, he wrote his plays to be performed aloud rather than read in the classroom. His theater was very popular because it was very entertaining

“We want to give participants a sense of what a summer day would have been like in London in 1599. One of the reasons that Shakespeare was so popular was that not only his theater was fun but downtown London of the time was a hopping place. We decided to recreate the world people would have traveled through to get to the Globe Theatre.”

Some of the other interactive experiences for the attendees will be May Day style dance celebrations, drumming and games, including the original version of horseshoes.

People are urged to attend in period costume, much like patrons of the Michigan Renaissance Festival.

Globe stage performances will occur every half hour. All other activities will run throughout the day.

“The festival should be a fabulous addition to the area,” Spain said. “Our goal is that this year we are starting a little small with scenes rather than full plays. Each year we hope to grow a little more.”

For further information, log on to www.enterstageright.org or contact Regina Spain at 810-334-6415.