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By Lorraine Dusky
Silly frothy fun is what “The Foreigner” delivers, as it points a broadsword at stereotypical Southerners, racists and avaricious preachers more interested in property deeds than good deeds.
A nimble troupe of actors under the apt direction of Sarah Hunnewell is bringing this lively jig of theater to life at the Hampton Theatre Company in Quogue. Larry Shue’s play is dense and complicated, but never loses sight of the farce at its heart.
The play won two Obies and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and has been a staple of local theater and amateur productions since it opened in 1984. In fact, this is the second time HTC has brought “The Foreigner” to life, for it had a highly successful run here in 1991.
As a first-time viewer, it is easy to see why. And the audience Sunday afternoon quickly got into the spirit of this fanciful, far-fetched comedy. It’s a hoot!
The play opens when Charlie, a repressed Englishman, is brought by his friend, Froggy LeSueur, for a few days of quiet recuperation to a country lodge in Georgia while his wife is supposedly dying in a hospital. We immediately learn that Charlie’s wife finds him boring—still, she may be dying—and he insists he is too distraught even to speak to anyone.
Froggy, who comes and goes throughout the action, announces he will tell everyone at the inn that Charlie is from some unknown foreign country and doesn’t understand English. Thus the merriment ensues as the other guests assume they can speak the absolute truth in front of Charlie—the pregnant Catherine, engaged to the conniving minister, Rev. David, who plots to have the lodge “condemned” and trick the owner, the good-hearted Betty, out of a rightful sale.
Throw in a dim-witted handyman, Eldred; Catherine’s brother, a Southern good ole-boy, Owen, who aims to rid the area of blacks, Jews and foreigners; a few locals; and stir vigorously.
Revealing more plot than that is going to ruin half the fun.
The overall excellence of this production rests on the wily shoulders and gangly frame of lead actor Matthew Conlon, whose list of credits includes the New York off-Broadway stage, as well as Sag Harbor’s Bay Street, where he acted in Joe Pintauro’s “Men’s Lives.”
As Charlie, Mr. Conlon is at first a shy sad sack who barely speaks. Then, he turns into a stomping, playful madcap as he allows his true personality to emerge, having shed the persona of a stodgy copy editor of science fiction.
He briskly glides through an intricate act of imitative ritual with his language teacher, Eldred—portrayed by Ben Schnickel—that is straight out of screwball comedy before he breaks out into an increasingly ridiculous series of slapstick poses as he acts out a children’s fairy tale, complete with ogre.
Krista Kurtzberg portrays the Southern bell Catherine, who fondly remembers being a deb a few years earlier “sipping drinks in revolving restaurants.” Actor Joe Pallister is the scheming minister she’s set to marry, until in comes Charlie.
Along the way, the devious plot—and a subplot involving Eldred—is foiled, and Charlie may or may not win Catherine’s banged-up heart. Mr. Conlon has been away from theater in the Hamptons for more than two decades—far too long—and his return augurs well for us.
The rest of the cast is up for the challenge, as well, especially Terry Brockbank as Froggy LeSueur, the back-slapping Brit who knows the truth about Charlie, and Mr. Schnickel as Eldred, Catherine’s doofus brother who ain’t so stupid after all. Owen Musser’s performance as the good ol’ boy racist could be muted a tad, as some of the dialogue get lost in his velocity and volume. Mr. Musser, incidentally, co-founded HTC in 1984, and has been in more than 20 productions since then.
Rounding out the cast is Diana Marbury, who portrays Betty, the inn’s proprietor with heart and verve. The set design by Sean Marbury has the down-home look of many a country lodge.
Following an initial run in Milwaukee, “The Foreigner” opened off-Broadway in 1984, with the playwright taking the role of Froggy. He never knew what a success the play would become, as he died one year later in a plane. It might be possible for southerners to find the play mildly offensive, but comedy often sits squarely on the shoulders of stereotypes that are stereotypes because they ring true.
Critics usually get their creds by picking apart and finding fault in what they are reviewing, but the Sunday afternoon performance of “The Foreigner” was such a romp that clever-but-nasty words cannot be summoned.
In short, it’s fun, it’s smart, it’s a good time.
“The Foreigner” will stage on Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through Sunday, March 30, at the Quogue Community Hall. Tickets are $25, $23 for seniors, except on Saturdays, and $12 for students under age 21. For more information, visit hamptontheatre.org.
on Mar 18, 2014