This show is the theatrical version of a perfect storm. The script, acting, directing, costumes, set and lighting all contributed to one incredibly funny show. I am referring to “Unnecessary Farce” by Paul S. Smith, whose show is now playing at the Hackmatack Playhouse off Route 9 in Berwick.

The action is set in two adjoining rooms in a motel, one that could be located nearly anywhere. Each room has an entry door, a closet (with sliding door) and a bathroom door. All of these doors are used frequently during the course of the play and are not there just for decoration. Each room has a nearly identical painting of a sailboat, bed, night table, and (ahem) a land line telephone. (Cell phones weren’t around when the play was written.) The purpose of the adjoining rooms of this well designed set (J.J. Craven) is to use a hidden microphone and camera in one room to record an admission of fraud by the mayor of the town in the other.

We are introduced to the first of two main characters, new and incompetent cops, played by Tomer Oz (Eric Sheridan) who answers the phone in his picturesque shorts and T-shirt. The call is from the chief of police, who underlines the fact that this is a sting operation and they are not to contact him.

One of many memorable moments in the play occurs when he confronts the mayor’s security guard (Agent Frank, played by Michael Stailey.) Agent Frank points a gun at him and Sheri-dan resp-onds by pointing a finger at him and declares that he will lower his finger if Frank will do the same!

While Oz does a fine job of acting throughout as a girl-shy cop, he is shortly upstaged by a newly minted cop played by Danica Carlson (Billie Dwyer in the play.) She impressed this reviewer with what I thought was a marvelous flair for comedic acting. One moment I vividly recall occurred when a spring in the bed loudly gave way and she nearly “lost it” as the audience guffawed.

Along with Carlson, the other main female lead in the play is Kelley G. Elhart who plays the role of Karen Brown, a sexually repressed accountant who discovers that the town’s books have been cooked. Soon Officer Sheridan and Brown are romantically involved. (This is a nice way of phrasing it.) Clothes come off and on but nothing serious occurs, at least not on stage. When it does, Brown’s blond hair is askew, her face, earlier prim and proper, has now acquired a transformative glow. The mayor (played by Mike Coppinger) arrives on the scene but leaves without admitting any wrongdoing before Agent Frank arrives to check out the room.

During the course of their encounter, Frank admits that Todd, a Scottsman, extremely well-acted by Michael Towle, is actually the hit man for the mob known as the Clan, with a “C” who kills after donning kilts and playing the bagpipes.

There are numerous and really funny situations with people hiding in one place or another that I can’t and really shouldn’t list. One has to experience them all and the comedic effect is cumulative. The only character I did not mention is Tinka Darling who nearly steals the show as the mayor’s wife.

The direction of this powerhouse of a comedic ensemble by Jennifer Henry is more than clever. It is superb. This production was tailor-made for Hackmatack and the performers got everything out of the script that the author put in. I enjoyed the show and even the strawberry cobbler was great. The show continues to July 4 with evening performances starting at 8 p.m. and matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets can be obtained at 698-1807 or at wwwhackmatack.org.

— Dr. Moron Gold is a composer/conductor and an arts reviewer for the Journal Tribune.