Drama Club
“Trouble in Tumbleweed” By Tim Kelly
Suggested by Nikolai Gogol's The Inspector General
“Get set for a wild romp suggested by one of the greatest farces ever written. This cockeyed version takes us to Arizona Territory in the 1880s and the dusty town of Tumbleweed. The pompous Mayor Oates has been hired by a Boston businessman to build a town that one day will be the Territory's capital. To fill the local positions--sheriff, schoolmarm, doctor--he hires his incompetent relatives (kickbacks included, of course!). The news that a Pinkerton detective is coming from Boston to inspect the town's development throws the whole family into a panic. Since they've been pocketing the businessman's money, the town hall is nothing but a hole in the ground and the schoolhouse has no roof. A Medicine Show huckster, Professor Burns, is stranded in town because his dancing bear has tangoed away. The relatives assume the professor is the detective and he is only too happy to take advantage of their mistake. Together with the glamorous cardsharp, Lily de Lilac, he has the relatives tripping over one another in hysterical attempts to bribe him. Just when you think the dust is settling, who should turn up but the real detective. The hilarious twists and turns in the plot will have you holding onto your hat (and your sides)!”
-Play synopsis from this website:
http://www.pioneerdrama.com/searchdetail.asp?pc=TROUBLEINT&id=