PRESCOTT – The Great River Road Theatre’s winter production is full of action and intrigue, complete with CIA agents, mysteries and crazy characters. Rehearsals are in full swing for what promises to be an entertaining show.

“Sin, Sex and the CIA” by Michael Parker and Susan Parker, tells the hilarious story of a bumbling CIA agent on his first job, said Director Judy Johnson. He has been assigned to guard a safe house in the Virginia mountains, the site of a secret meeting between the U.S. government and a representative of the Chagos Aisles, where huge oil reserves have been discovered. OPEC is trying to stop the meeting because they want the Aisles to join the cartel instead of work with the U.S.

“There will be a negotiation that is taking place and there are people from OPEC who are trying to disrupt, dismantle and hope the negotiations are breaking down,” said Scott Halverson.

The cast members include Halverson, who plays retired Marine Daniel Warren, who is annoyed by inept CIA agent Luke James, played by Mark Andrle. Krista Christiansen is dowdy Millicent the Innocent who is married to “hell and damnation” Southern evangelist Samuel Abernathe, played by Aaron Denn. The mismatched pair stumble upon the safe house after their car breaks down. Missy Kowalczyk plays a neighbor woman (or is she?), while Rebecca Denn goes out of her comfort zone to portray oversexed, libido-crazed government rep Margaret Anderson. Marie-Anne Haudegand-Deiss rounds out the cast as Ranger Dawn.

Everyone erupted in chatter as they tried to describe their characters.

“The characters are just crazy,” Johnson said. “They are funnier than heck. These seven characters are the cream of the crop.”

“You don’t really how the characters are going to react,” Christiansen added.

“Are they with the islands or are they from the government? You just don’t know,” Halverson said.

Haudegand-Deiss, who joined Great River Road Theatre when she moved to the area from Quebec in 2012, describes the lead agent as a Barney Fife-type character.

“I think I see a lot of Maxwell Smart in a lot of the things that happen to him,” Haudegand-Deiss said. “He even starts himself on fire by accident.”

The non-profit theater board picked the comedy after reading through several plays.

“We got together and read a bunch of plays and this was the one that most of the people really enjoyed,” Johnson said. “It’s really fast-paced this year.”

Highlights abound throughout the production with many one-liners and comedic moments.

“There’s the part where Missy teaches Krista how to catch a man,” Johnson laughed. “It’s a course in Seduction 101.”

Becky Denn describes her character as a woman on a mission.

“It’s really important to her to get these negotiations complete but she’s distracted by her libido,” she said. “I’m really excited to act with my husband in the play. This will be the second time and he always steals the show. I’ve been in this theatre group for years and he waltzes in and now that’s all I hear about.”

The dinner show will take place Feb. 2-4 and 9-11 at The Old Ptacek’s Event Center in Prescott. Friday and Saturday night dinners will include ham, champagne chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, salad, buns, and dessert. Seating begins at 5 p.m., dinner is at 6 p.m., followed by the 7 p.m. show.

“Pasta Sundays” are matinees with doors opening at 11:30 a.m., lunch at noon and the show at 1 p.m. That meal includes lasagna, fettucine Alfredo, green beans, lettuce salad, buns and dessert.

Tickets, available online only at www.ptaceksiga.com, are $40. They would make a great Christmas present, the cast agreed.

“Judy started this group some 35 years ago,” Haudegand-Deiss said. “For a small community theatre to still be up and running is quite fantastic.”

You can follow Great River Road Theatre on Facebook.