The Foreigner
River Rep, the popular New York repertory theatre company,
returns to Connecticut after a year-long hiatus with its 97th
production, Larry Shue's delightful farce, "The Foreigner" at their new
home this summer, the Chester Meeting House. This opening night Gala
also included a fundraising event with a silent auction as well
as plenty of champagne, wine, soda and food with the host of this event
being Katherine Houghton, star of stage and screen and one of River
Rep's leading ladies as well as being the niece of Katherine
Hepburn. The show takes place in the early 1980's and is set in a
fishing lodge in rural Georgia where Froggy LeSeuer, a British
demolition expert occasionally runs training sessions at a nearby
airbase. This time Froggy brings along a friend, Charlie Baker who is
pathologically shy and is overcome with fear at the thought of making
conversation with strangers. So Froggy tells Betty Meeks, the owner of
the lodge that Charlie is from an exotic foreign country and speaks no
English. However Charlie overhears more than he should about the evil
plans of a sinister minister and his redneck associate as well as the
fact that the minister's fiancée is pregnant. Charlie also learns many
other damaging revelations made by the others with the thought that he
doesn't understand anything being said. The fact that he does
understand, he eventually helps the good guys overcome the evil Ku Klux
Klan, thereby conquering them, overcoming his shyness and helping to
change his and three other people's lives for the better, all at the
same time. Jenn Thompson directs her seven talented performers perfectly
in this madcap comic romp. The gorgeous fishing lodge set with a raked
stage created by Tony Andrea, is so realistic one feels if they could
move inside there for a three week vacation. The made up foreign
language spoken by Charlie is hilarious to hear and watch as he tries to
make the others understand what he is saying. The powerful performances
by the River Rep troupe won the cast a standing ovation and thunderous
applause at their triumphant return to the appreciative opening night
audience in the beautiful and scenic Chester, CT. Bravo.
Jenn brings the comic moments out beautifully and gives each
actor a chance to shine in their roles. Each role is a character role
and she makes each of them different from the other. The British and
southern accents are excellently executed by the cast and stage manager
Rychard Curtiss keeps the scene changes moving along quickly, keeping
the show's quick pace from start to finish. The sound design by Stephen
Kunken, Jenn's real life husband who is currently appearing on Broadway
in "Frost/Nixon", includes a rain storm and an explosion with the
lighting design by Martin Vreeland and costumes by Jennie Cleaver. The
cast is lead by Warren Kelley and his portrayal of Charlie Baker is
splendid with his fantastic facial expressions and wonderful line
deliveries in English and in his made up foreign language. (Blit is no
and gock is yes.) Charlie who is a proof reader, feels boring
and inadequate due to his wife's 23 affairs but his time in Georgia
helps him to overcome his doubts and he becomes a hero, too. Warren's
interactions with the other characters is perfect as he helps a
dimwitted boy win his inheritance, brings adventure to an old lady stuck
in this backwards town, helps a pregnant woman escape the clutches of
her awful boyfriend and taunts her beau and his horrible redneck pal
with his secret insults in his hidden tongue. Warren's acting out with
his pantomime's and foreign language of the little red riding hood tale
has to be seen and heard to be fully enjoyed because the audience
understands what he is saying even though he is speaking gibberish. His
dancing crazily and his ominous incantations to scare the hoodlums are
topnotch, too. Bravo on a job well done.
Jenn's father, Evan, mother, Joan, and brother Owen appear in
this show, too. Charlie's chum, Froggy is well played by veteran actor,
Evan Thompson. He makes this bombastic, heavy drinking British soldier
come to life. Evan shows his exasperation at trying to encourage Charlie
to be more sociable and does a turn on a dime when he concocts the
foreigner story to help bolster up Betty due to her problems at the
lodge. Froggy can hardly believe that Charlie has fooled all the people
with his shenanigans but supplies the needed turn of events to make
Charlie and his three new friends very happy. Joan Shepard is very
comical as Betty Meeks. She misconstrues almost everything Charlie says
to her including that there is a tractor in his red riding hood story
and that he wants her to play her harmonica for him. When Betty shouts
at Charlie as if he is deaf is hilarious, too. Tara Falk plays Catherine
Simms, a former debutante whose father has left her a huge inheritance.
She is bitchy and unhappy during the first act due to her being pregnant
but mellows out in the second act due to Charlie's sympathetic and
understanding nature and becomes enamored of him. Her dimwitted brother,
Ellard is played by Trip Langley who graduated this May from NYU's Tisch
School of the Arts. Ellard turns out to be smarter than anyone thinks.
His eating and teaching scenes with Warren are hysterical as he teaches
Charlie how to eat eggs while putting a glass on his head and how to
identify objects in the lodge by their southern English definitions.
Todd Gearhart who has matinee idol good looks, gets a chance to
portray a cad in David who is a minister. However things seem too good
to be true and as Charlie witnesses the exchange between David and Owen,
he discovers their true motives towards Betty, Ellard and Catherine.
Todd's acting is wonderful as this smarmy character and the audience
enjoys it when David gets his comeuppance after his miserable behavior.
Last but not least is Owen Thompson who plays Owen who is one of the
nastiest villains in this show as he takes advantage of an old lady and
tries to kill Charlie because he is a foreigner. He spouts awful, racist
dialogue at Charlie and the others but the comic moments help to temper
it as he gets the crap scared out of him and the Ku Klux Klan. A huge
boo and hiss to Todd and Owen for being horrible villains but excelling
in their roles while so. Hopefully this is the restarting of River Rep's
summer theatre. Their plans for the summer of 2008 are in the works and
they hope to relocate to the new Katherine Hepburn Theatre in Old
Saybrook, CT. So for a fabulous treat and a topnotch farce by 20 year
favorite River Rep, be sure to catch "The Foreigner". Tell them Tony
sent you.
THE FOREIGNER ( 25 July to 12 August)
River Rep, Chester Meeting House, 4 Liberty Street,
Chester, CT
1 (860) 767-2954 or
www.riverrep.com
