PORT DOVER—A heaping helping of laughter is on the menu as Lighthouse Theatre presents the world premiere of Secret Service, the third show in its summer 2026 season.
Directed by Interim Artistic Producer David Leyshon, Secret Service blends misunderstandings, undercover operations, and marinara sauce into a theatrical meal sure to satisfy patrons looking for laughs along the shores of Lake Erie this July.
PORT DOVER—Actor Cooper Bilton attempts to charm his way through a dinner with the infamous assassin Viviana Scarlotta in a scene from Lighthouse Theatre’s world premiere show, Secret Service. —Submitted photos. 
PORT DOVER—Stephen Sparks and Lisa Norton struggle to keep Cooper Bilton in his seat in a scene from the show.
Set inside a popular Italian restaurant in Toronto, the show opens with Harry, a down-on-his-luck waiter played by Cooper Bilton, arriving for his first shift.
However, the restaurant’s manager Quentin, played by Robbie Towns, and chef Maddy, played by Lisa Norton, are not who they appear to be. The pair are actually federal agents preparing a sting operation to capture famous assassin Viviana Scarlotta, played by Janelle Hanna.
Mistaking Harry for world-renowned undercover agent Nick Hardcastle, codenamed “The Condor,” Quentin and Maddy rush the hapless waiter through the details. They hastily set him up to take on Scarlotta before the real Condor, played by Lighthouse veteran Stephen Sparks, steps through the restaurant’s doors, dressed to kill and in no mood to suffer a fool.
With a hasty plan in place, the four find themselves in a dangerous game of cat and mouse, desperate to stay one step ahead of Scarlotta and finish the mission without blowing their cover.
The show is a classic farce, with no greater ambition than to leave its audience in stitches as the misunderstandings escalate and the plot unravels. Slapstick comedy, deadpan one-liners, and over-the-top Italian accents are just some of the ingredients on the plate giving this show its rich flavour.
All five actors acquit themselves well, playing into their characters’ over-the-top natures with ease and sharing a natural chemistry on stage that really comes together as Harry tries to navigate an increasingly complicated meal with Scarlotta through the show’s second half.
Hanna is absolutely hilarious in her Lighthouse debut. Her scenes with Bilton are the clear highlight of the show, leading to some incredible displays of physical comedy as the operation starts to unravel.
Sparks brings some serious James Bond energy to his role, bristling with incredulity as his agent is sidelined in the operation, and brandishing an itchy trigger finger and barely concealed desire to use his licence to kill with impunity.
Towns and Norton stand out as well, with Norton’s character clearly more concerned over Scarlotta’s review of her family’s Italian recipes than she is of the operation underway, and Towns haplessly trying to hold the operation together and keep big egos in check as everything falls apart around him.
Leyshon stages the show’s action in a frantic, fast-paced fashion that ensures the audience never has time to stop and question the plot’s logic between fits of laughter. A standout scene later in the show displays masterful choreography as the entire cast attempts a full body scan of Scarlotta without her noticing.
Playwright Ephraim Ellis based his script on a simple idea: What if James Bond, who always goes undercover as a millionaire playboy or high-stakes gambler, had to take on an assignment playing a more mundane undercover role?
“Would his ego be able to take it? The more I thought about it, the more combining spy fiction and classic farce seemed like the perfect pairing,” said Ellis.
The only way to find out how this rollicking adventure ends is to buy a ticket. Secret Service is on stage in Port Dover until July 25 and from runs July 29 to August 9 at the Roselawn Theatre in Port Colborne.
For tickets or more information, visit lighthousetheatre.ca or call the box office at 1-888-779-7703.
