'The Foreigner': humor with a lesson
By PENNY E. SCHWARTZ
The Footlighters could hardly have foreseen how their choice of "The Foreigner" for their November play would resonate with current events and the state of the world.
"Can't we all just get along?" Rodney King asked a number of years ago.
Apparently we cannot, and the recent terrorist attacks have left the world's populations splintered and more suspicious of each other than ever.
Certain foreigners in our country have come under added scrutiny in recent days and weeks.
Larry Shue's "The Foreigner" asks a similar question to King's and resolves it in a humorous yet instructive fashion. Into the midst of a group of rural hicks at a backwoods fishing lodge in Georgia comes a man they believe to be a foreigner, a guest who speaks no English.
The man is actually Charlie Baker, a shy proofreader who is escaping emotional problems at home and sees himself as a nerdy, boring person "with no personality." His outgoing, bombastic British friend Froggy Le Sueur has brought him to the lodge, run by a widowed friend, for a few days' rest.
Because Charlie feels he has nothing to say and doesn't have the energy to interact with others, Froggy tells the lodge owner, Betty, that Charlie speaks no English, and thus the plot is established. Thinking Charlie cannot understand them, the locals speak freely in his presence and even confide secrets to him.
Through overheard conversations, Charlie discovers a plot by the sanctimonious Reverend Lee to steal Betty's lodge from her and turn it into the local headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan. He also becomes the confidant of the nave young Catherine Simms, who is in love with the reverend and fooled by his pretended goodness.
Betty, who has never traveled beyond the borders of Georgia, is intrigued by the presence of a foreigner and tries to communicate with him by yelling slowly as one might to a deaf person.
Gradually, Charlie grows in confidence as the locals accept him for himself. Feeling a sense of freedom because he is not expected to speak, he comes out of his shell and "acquires" a delightful personality. The others, in the meantime, grow through their association with Charlie. Catherine blossoms as she finds someone she can confide in, while her brother, Ellard, who is considered slow-witted, gains a new sense of mastery as he "teaches" Charlie to speak English more and more proficiently.
When the mean-spirited Owen Musser, leader of the local Klan and hater of all who are "different," (not white Christian Americans), comes with his white-sheeted band to threaten Charlie and his friends, they are able to band together and thwart the enemy.
In learning to accept Charlie, the locals have learned to accept themselves and each other as well. They each become "complete and alive" through their interaction and discover that in acceptance and unity lies strength.
The play's lesson comes with much humor derived mostly from silly situations and hilarious interchanges. Jeff Richards is a delightful Charlie Baker, growing from a hand-wringing, self-effacing stranger to a self-confident raconteur, totally comfortable as the center of attention.
Clark Morrow makes an excellent Froggy and Shirley Johnson Lamb an effective Betty. Kristen Megill is a tad too edgy as Catherine, but Allen Wilson is quite good as the hypocritical reverend and Stuart Fletcher equally convincing as the hate-mongering, redneck Klanmaster. Jesse Cowser is totally endearing as the slow-witted Ellard.
In fact, the entire play is endearing, offering a delightful evening of theater at a time when we most need to be entertained. Direction by Rhesa Richards keeps the action flowing at a crisp pace. She must have cleaned out a local antique shop for her set decorations, which provide a backdrop to the action that is a visual feast.
"The Foreigner" continues at 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday through Nov. 17, with 2 p.m. matinees Nov. 4, 11, 17 and 18. Tickets are $10 and can be reserved by calling the box office at 793-2909 weekdays from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. and noon-1:30 p.m. on matinee days. Two-for-one tickets will be available for the Nov. 17 matinee, subject to availability.