A farce is defined as "a light dramatic work in which highly improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and often slapstick elements are used for humorous effect." But many dictionaries also define it as "a ludicrous, empty show" and "a seasoned stuffing as for roasted turkey."

In the Barn Theatre's premier production of its 62nd season, "Tom, Dick, and Harry" is neither empty nor stuffing though it's plenty ludicrous. But in ludicrousness farce finds its humor, and British scribe Ray Cooney has made a career of keeping the farce tradition alive with absurd situation comedies that are side-splittingly funny.

The Barn Theatre has a long history of producing the Cooney farces, including "Not Now Darling" (1997), "Funny Money" (1996), "It Runs In the Family" (2000), "There Goes the Bride" (2001), "Caught in the Net" (2002), "Two Into One" (2004), and "Out of Order" (2006). To say the Barn is good at producing Ray Cooney's farces would be an understatement. For "Tom, Dick, and Harry," the Barn has possibly accumulated the best cast ever to take the stage in a Cooney comic masterpiece.

The hilarity begins almost immediately as Tom Kerwood (Eric Parker) and his wife, Linda (Emily May Smith) prepare for an interview with Mrs. Potter (Mychelle Hopkins) from the adoption agency. Everything must be just-so to ensure that they're selected to adopt a baby, and so the couple find themselves a wee bit stressed out.

As with most farces, "just-so" is not within the realm of possibility. The troubles begin as Tom's brother Dick (Joe Aiello) returns from Calais with Tom's van laden with smuggled cigarettes and brandy that he plans to sell on the sly. Dick's contraband proves to be the least of Tom's problems when his younger brother Harry (Scott Burkell) arrives with a zany scheme to depress the value of their flat — which they wish to buy — by burying body parts from the hospital where he works in Tom's garden. Harry arrives with a trash bag and four grocery bags stuffed with corpse bits, which everyone knows will not stay bagged for long.

Still, Tom may have been able to sort out Harry and Dick's complications and show Mrs. Potter the safe and secure, happy home he and his wife have made in Kennington if not for the unexpected. More tomfoolery gets heaped on when Dick discovers that a pair of illegal immigrants have stowed away in the back of Tom's van: Andreas (Roy Brown) and Katerina (Lisa Marie Morabito). Dick declares that "they must be looking for asylum" and Tom rejoins that "they've bloody well found one!" Indeed.

All the lies, cover-ups, and attempts to hide the evidence are in full swing when Constable Downs (Eric Peterson) turns up to check on unregistered vehicles and grows suspicious that there's more going on in Kerwood's home than his outlandish stories indicate. By the time Mrs. Potter arrives for the all-important interview, Andreas is shouting gibberish and blowing his trumpet, the trash bag of corpse bits must be hidden in the sofa-bed couch which won't stay closed, and Tom has woven such a complicated web of alternate explanations that his brothers can't keep them straight.

The play is brilliant, penned by a pair of authors (father and son Ray and Michael Cooney) at the top of their game. It's a full-on, careening, mad dash to the finish line with wild antics, low brow humor, and slapstick comedy that makes the 150-minute run time pass in a flash.

It's also brilliantly acted and directed. Dusty Reeds knows how to best choreograph a British farce with just the right touches of comic business. But it's the performers who show why the Barn is very, very good at these shows: comic timing. It would be manufacturing criticism simply for the sake of criticism to find anything at fault with this show, which keeps better time than a Swiss watch.

Barn vets Parker, Aiello, and Burkell are in their element, and turn in better performances here than many of their recent works, including the much loved "Escanaba in da Moonlight." Parker, who is the star, demonstrates how trapped he feels trying to suss out the horrors that his brothers have wrought. Aiello and Burkell are just the right combination of goofy and dodgy: totally hilarious.

But it's the supporting cast that make the show so good. Peterson, last seen in 2005's "Hair," takes a small role and delivers surprisingly well with the best accent on the stage. Last seen in 2003 notably as Columbia in "Rocky Horror," Lisa Maire Morabito brings her exceptional comic talents to the stage. Roy Brown shows why the Barn keeps bringing him back annually with a role as funny as the Jimmer in "Escanaba." Emily May Smith, Mychelle Hopkins, and Jake Stackhouse all turn in quality performances, also.

The Barn has opened its 2007 season with a bang. Don't miss it.

Christopher Tower is a freelance reporter.

Barn Theatre opens with a wild bunch of brothers

The Barn is back. And what better way to welcome the return of summer shenanigans than with the most convoluted Ray Cooney farce yet.

"Tom, Dick and Harry," which opened the 62nd season Tuesday for a nearly packed house of about 450, spotlights three Barn favorites -- Joe Aiello, Scott Burkell and Eric Parker -- in the title roles. But to make the reunion complete, there are funny spots for local-actor-turned-Equity-resident Roy Brown and former-Barnie-fresh-from-touring Erik Peterson.

Cooney got a little help from son Michael Cooney in writing this script, because one playwright couldn't create so much confusion.

It starts off innocently enough. Tom (Eric Parker) and his wife (Emily May Smith) are eager to adopt a child and are preparing for an in-home evaluation. Tom's brother Dick (Joe Aiello), who has an apartment upstairs, shows up with a van full of cigarettes and booze he has smuggled into the country.

He is followed a few minutes later by the arrival of the third brother, Harry (Scott Burkell), who works as an orderly in a hospital. He brings a bag full of body parts to bury in the back yard. Then Dick discovers a pair of illegal immigrants hiding in the van, a curious cop (Erik Peterson) on patrol and, of course, the adoption inspector arriving right on time.

The story takes quite a bit of setup, so it's a little slow starting, and Parker's panic is too forced at first. But as the problems build in the second act, Parker's exasperation becomes so intense, he looks like his crazed eyes will pop out of his head.

Aiello creates a devilish Dick, slouching on the sofa and peeking around the door frame to critique Tom's latest attempt to explain the situation. One of his best scenes, which received spontaneous applause, was using elaborate gestures to translate a story for one attractive immigrant (Lisa Marie Morabito).

Burkell, on the other hand, portrays Harry with an eerie calm even when everything around him is chaos. At one point, he hides the bag of body parts in the sleeper sofa, which has a mind of its own. His relaxed way of dealing with the problem earned him applause from the crowd.

As the second immigrant, Roy Brown has boundless energy and enthusiasm, rattling off gibberish lines, getting drunk, blasting a trumpet and singing at the top of his lungs. In the bleakest moment, Aiello, Burkell and Brown manage to sing and dance their way out if it.

All of the action takes place in the living room of a well-built English home. The actors use British accents, and the script is full of British references that may be a little obscure to Americans.

Some of the situations drag on too long, but more often the actors' timing is uproariously funny and well done.

Welcome back, guys. Another summer at The Barn Theatre is off to an entertaining start.

Send e-mail to the author: smerrell@grpress.com

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