A very nice article was written about this script in association with its winning the 2017 Shawnee Original Playwright Series. You can read it here.
No Laughing Matter
|
|
Alexei Dmitri Konstatntin Nikolay Sergei Stepanovich has just arrived in New York, leaving behind a flailing career as a comedian in his native Russia. On his way to find a job as a busboy, he has the misfortune to sit next to a British courier for the Russian intelligence agency, and now the FBI thinks the ex-comedian is a spy. This is equally unfortunate for Special Agents Humphrey and Williams, who must watch Alexei like a hawk in order to figure out just what he is (not) up to. Why is he flirting with Maggie the waitress? Does Angel, in her zealous devotion to the memory of the Eagle's Glenn Frey, represent some kind of threat to national security? What about Richard, the despondent owner of The Egg Plant, or the peculiar Alejandro, a man allergic to nearly everything except coffee?
When it is clear that Humphrey and Williams are not going to unravel the mystery by themselves, their director at the Bureau brings in bombshell superstar Agent Tara Butler. Despite her sharp mind and keen eyes, the mystery only thickens until they are given a tip to search Maggie's apartment. Finding weapons and an assassination plan, the case seems solved once and for all... until Angel reveals one last piece of evidence: an overheard conversation from the Brit that started the problem in the first place, and that suggests the real spy is hiding in plain sight at the FBI.