Tempe Little Theatre's The Foreigner at The Tempe Performing Arts Center
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 12/19/98
(out of )The late Larry Shue unfortunately has only two plays in his repertoire, and they both use funny word games, odd customs and miscommunications to drive their action. The Foreigner, the first and best of these two plays, was once a standard of community theatres around the country, but now seems to have been usurped by the other, The Nerd. Fortunately, Tempe Little Theatre has decided to produce the better of the two plays, and with hilarious results.
Set in a Fishing Lodge in rural Georgia, the play centers on Charlie
Baker, a Science Fiction magazine editor whose wife is ill, and
has been brought here to unwind by an army buddy of his, Froggy.
Charlie has one desire in his stay, and that is to have no one
talk to him. Froggy comes up with a plan, which ultimately works
against, and for the poor Charlie: pose him as a foreigner with
no English skills. Instead of keeping everyone away from him,
Charlie finds everyone uses his supposed lack of English skills
to their own separate advantage. The play is long and loquacious
at times, and does take some turns into darker territory by including
a forlorn debutante, her simple brother, her questionable preacher/fiance,
the depressed lodge owner, and a County Assessor/Klansman with
eyes on taking the Lodge in the name of the Invisible Empire.
The overall play, though, has many funny moments, and is worth
the investment of time.
Director Robin LaVoie has done a very good job in pacing
and blocking the show, though she has made two casting errors
that cause the production some problems. The first is the casting
of Liz Koeninger as Betty Meeks, a part that calls for
a woman much older than she, and the second is the casting of
Kerry Leigh LePage as recent debutante Catherine Simms,
a role much younger than she is able to play. Despite these two
minor problems, the other roles have been perfectly cast, and
the overall balance of the show is generally unhindered.
There are several standouts in the cast who are aware of the charicature-ish
qualities of their roles, and shine accordingly. Tops are Andrew
Alexander as the simple brother, Ellard, and Kurt Johnson
as hate-spouting Klansman Owen. Mr. Alexander is a delight, never
breaking character and never making this potentially difficult
role fall toward mockery or pathos. His work with Charley on teaching
him words of English is a delightful moment. As silly cracker
Owen, Mr. Johnson also skates the line between mockery and understanding,
and as a result, is a very good comic villain.
Nearly as impressive are Robert Daniels as the forlorn
Charlie, and Barry Siegwart as his buddy, Froggy. Mr. Daniels
spends much time not reacting to the scenes that go on around
him, and he does an excellent job of re-creating the gibberish
given to him as his "native tongue." We are able to
chart his rise from meek to heroic in a believable way. Mr. Siegwart
is very funny as the munitions expert from the British Army, although
his real-life accent is subjugated with another variation of a
British accent, and seems a bit forced as a result.
As the Reverend David Marshall Lee, Brett Tuttle does not
give as balanced a performance as the others, but still manages
to bring across his characters duality in an acceptable way. Despite
the miscasting, Ms. Koeninger and Ms. LePage do rally to give
their characters an acceptable reading, with Ms. Koeninger doing
a solid job of recreating her characters joy at meeting a foreigner.
We could only wish that her depression at the start of the play
had been stronger, to allow her to balance it with her subsequent
joy at Charlie's visit. Ms. LePage is just too staid and uptight
in her (and Ms. LeVoie's?) character choice, turning Catherine
from a trapped-though-still-vivacious-Southern Belle and debutante
into a dowdy older woman.
Teri Glaess' Set Design was very impressive, recreating
the inside of Ms. Meeks' Fishing Lodge, although it seemed more
Bed and Breakfast than you'd expect in the mid-80's. More care
needs be taken, though, of stairs, as they are a potentially dangerous
part of the set. Bob Nelson's Lighting Design, and David
Nelson's Sound Design were also very impressive, as Tempe
Little Theatre seems finally able to give its designers more to
work with. Also very good were Annette Heath's costumes.
As more people support Tempe
Little Theatre, and they have been able to bring aboard more
seasoned actors and technicians, the quality of their shows has
increased dramatically. With a big musical, A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum, up next, we will see how well this
trend is able to continue.
Production Details:
The Forienger by Larry Shue
Tempe Little Theatre at the Tempe Performing Arts Center, Tempe
(602) 350-8388
December 11th-December 20th, 1998