Cast N Crew will open a new show this weekend, “Unnecessary Farce,” which will run five performances from Thursday, April 4 to Sunday, April 7. “Unnecessary Farce” is, in the words of sophomore director Jens Tulio Damgaard, about “two cops who are attempting to catch a supposedly crooked mayor, but when they try to get a confession, something always seems to happen to throw them for a loop.”

In advance of the show, I spoke with Damgaard and junior Zoey Miller, one of the show’s stars and a member of the Cast N Crew executive board.

It was “intimidating” to direct the show, Damgaard said, but ultimately “directing this play was an incredible experience.” Both cast and production crew, “embraced their work and brought their A-game.”

Miller plays rookie cop Billie Dwyer. “She’s pretty incompetent but very optimistic,” Miller said. “I feel like I’m always in such a good mood after playing her because she just has so much energy.”

That’s how Cast N Crew hopes their audience will feel as well. “This is a hysterical play that looks good, makes you feel good and is on all fronts more than just ‘good’,” Damgaard said. “No matter the reason you attend performances, there will be something to appreciate and have fun with at this show.”

“We were definitely interested in doing a farce of some kind,” Miller said of the group’s decision to choose “Unnecessary Farce”. Everyone involved “gets a chance to show off and to just have fun and be silly.”

That silliness has made this a favorite: “I’ve been doing theatre for years and I think this is one of my favorite shows I’ve ever done,” Miller said.

Senior Zoe Orenstein, president of Cast N Crew, agreed. “This is my last show with Cast N Crew, and I couldn’t have asked for a better one to go out on.”

Not only will “Unnecessary Farce” attendees see a great performance, they will be supporting Relay for Life. Tickets to the show, which cost $5, will help Cast N Crew raise money for Relay, which works to fund cancer research and the American Cancer Society.

Cast N Crew has wanted to work with Relay for Life for a while, Miller explained:

“For the past four or five years our show has happened to coincide with Relay, and because it’s such an important cause that’s so meaningful to so many people involved with the show, we wanted to try to find a way to not be a competing event but instead be a complimentary event. We wanted to make sure people felt like they could commit to being involved in the show, or even just come to see the show, but still support Relay.”

If you want to support Relay, see a student production of a buddy-cop comedy or both, come out to see Cast N Crew’s performance of “Unnecessary Farce” this weekend. Tickets are $5 and will be sold in the DUC through April 5th. Performances will be Thursday, April 4 at 8:00 PM, Friday, April 5 at 8:00 PM, Saturday, April 6 at 1:00 PM and 8:00 PM and Sunday, April 7 at 1:00 PM in the Village Black Box Theater.