Shue Business

The Foreigner

Written by Larry Shue

Directed by Adam Fratto

At the Lowell House JCR

This weekend and next

POOR CHARLIE. His terminally ill wife is languishing in a hospital at home, in England. He is too depressed and, given his timid nature, too frightened to talk to anyone. But he finds himself dropped off by his friend, Sgt. "Froggy" LeSueur, at a boarding house in rural Georgia, facing the prospect of three days under the scrutiny of gawking hicks.

In order to keep strangers from talking to Charlie, Froggy convinces the owner, Betty Meeks, that Charlie is a foreigner who speaks no English. Hence the title of Larry Shue's farce, The Foreigner.

But as Betty (Heather Gunn) says, "you can't believe everything you hear," and most of the people Charlie (Jon Blackstone) meets have something to hide. Meat-packing heiress Catherine Simms (Brodie Fisher), overzealous building inspector Owen Musser (Steve Lyne), and even the saintly Reverend David Lee (Jon Finks), Catherine's fiance, reveal their secrets in his presence, thinking he won't understand.

Catherine's retarded brother Ellard (Adam Schwartz) also has a secret that he gradually reveals to everyone, which is that he is not as stupid as even he thinks he is. He discovers his own intelligence through "teaching" Charlie how to speak English.

Director Adam Fratto makes the most of The Foreigner's farcical elements. Most of the play's humor comes either from the situation, as Charlie relishes his new persona more and more, or from Shue's witty dialogue. Catherine, feeling guilty because she thinks she is less upright than her fiance, complains, "Some people are just meant to be a waste of food, and I think I'm one of them."

The play does occasionally fall into the trap of exploiting stereotypes to get laughs. Owen is an ignorant, superstitious bigot, Charlie is an uptight Brit, and Betty is such a provincial naif, having never met a foreign-speaker before, that she shouts in Charlie's ear, as if increased volume would make English more comprehensible.

But Ellard, whose handicap could have been the butt of cruel jokes, is a sympathetic figure, especially as Schwartz portrays him. Fischer, who could have made Catherine a one-dimensional spoiled bitch, humanizes her with realistic sobbing over her guilt and shame. Gunn's Betty is so sweet that her loud voice is forgiveable.

Funniest of all is Blackstone, who always shines, whether aping Ellard's childlike movement and speech, inventing a gobbledygook foreign language, pretending to hoodoo Owen, or simply staring forward with his forlorn puppy eyes in feigned ignorance or injury. The Foreigner is essentially Blackstone's show, and he carries it off triumphantly. He and the rest of the cast really make the Shue fit.