{"id":1027,"date":"2015-08-10T16:21:22","date_gmt":"2015-08-10T16:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hamptontheatre.org\/?page_id=1027"},"modified":"2020-01-14T14:37:21","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T14:37:21","slug":"the-foreigner","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hamptontheatre.org\/?page_id=1027","title":{"rendered":"The Foreigner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GENERAL INFO<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \t\r\n
\r\n\"hampton<\/a>\r\n
by Larry Shue\r\ndirected by Sarah Hunnewell<\/h6>\r\n
March 13 – 30, 2014<\/h6>\r\nA hilarious comedy about a shy and awkward foreigner’s unexpected adventure in the wilds of rural Georgia.\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n
\r\nCAST:<\/strong>\r\nCharlie – MATTHEW CONLON
\r\nFroggy – TERRY BROCKBANK
\r\nBetty – DIANA MARBURY
\r\nDavid – JOE PALLISTER<\/a>
\r\nCatherine – KRISTA KURTZBERG<\/a>
\r\nOwen – JAMES EWING
\r\nEllard – BEN SCHNICKEL
\r\n<\/div>
<\/div>\r\n\n <\/div>\n

WHO'S WHO<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \t\r\nTERRY BROCKBANK<\/strong> (\u201cFroggy\u201d LeSeuer) is delighted to return to the HTC stage where he made his debut as Henri Trochard in the company\u2019s production of My Three Angels<\/em>. Other appearances include the title role in Bottoms Up\u2013The Private Lives of Noel Coward<\/em> and the dual roles of King Duncan and the Scottish Doctor in Macbeth<\/em> at Northeast Stage and, at the NFCT, Colonel Pickering in My Fair Lady<\/em> and Frank Doel in 84 Charing Cross Road<\/em>. Terry has also performed in community theater and dinner theater in Wales, Virginia, and NYC, where roles include Cliff in Look Back in Anger<\/em>, Horatio in Hamlet<\/em>, Mr. Mulleady in The Hostage<\/em>, and The Judge in Volpone<\/em>. He is also a director with a long string of credits. Recently retired, Terry now shares his time between homes in New York City and Shelter Island.

\r\n\r\nMATTHEW CONLON<\/strong> (Charlie Baker) is grateful to return to the HTC, where he appeared in The Heiress<\/em>, The Real Thing<\/em> and The Crucible<\/em> some time back. NYC: HB Playwrights: The Game of Love and Death<\/em> (with Herbert Berghof), Lady With a Lapdog<\/em>, Freud\u2019s Last Session<\/em> (with Fritz Weaver), The Play\u2019s the Thing<\/em> and The Chase<\/em>; Beckett: Judgemen<\/em>t; Sonnet Rep: The Tempest<\/em>; EST: The Traveling Lady<\/em>; La Mama: A Human Equatio<\/em>n; Tribeca Lab: The Swan<\/em>; Lark: Bromius Beaujolais<\/em> and God, Sex and Blue Water<\/em>. Regional: Penobscot: To Kill a Mockingbi<\/em>rd; Bay Street: Men\u2019s Lives<\/em>; Cleveland Play House: The Importance of Being Earnest<\/em>; O\u2019Neill: Fuddy Meers<\/em>. Stage West: Suddenly Last Summer<\/em> (with Kim Hunter); Ivoryton: Prelude to a Kiss<\/em>, Bell, Book and Cand<\/em>le and On Golden Po<\/em>nd; Mendelssohn: Oedipus Rex<\/em>, The Daughter-in-Law<\/em>; Power Center: Waiting for Godo<\/em>t; Bearsville: The Lisbon Traviata<\/em>. Recent Film: Sweet Lorraine<\/em>; The Crimson Mask<\/em>. TV: Law and Order<\/em>(s). During the final year of ABC\u2019s One Life to Live<\/em>, Matthew played M. Claude Calmar.

\r\n\r\nJAMES EWING<\/strong> (Owen Musser) co-founded the HTC in 1984 and has since appeared in over 20 productions and designed and built numerous sets. Favorite roles, besides this one which he is thrilled to reprise, include Colonel J.C. Kincaid in The Oldest Living Graduate<\/em>, Artie Shaughnessy in The House of Blue Leaves<\/em>, Horace in The Little Foxe<\/em>s and the many characters of The Dining Room<\/em>. Special gratitude to his reliable and skilled production team all listed in the program. And, of course, to Sarah for her wise guidance and fortitude as we stumble along in these efforts.

\r\n\r\nKRISTA KURTZBERG<\/strong> (Catherine Simms) is thrilled to be making her debut at the Hampton Theatre Company! Originally from Atlanta, she received her BFA in theater from Wright State in Ohio. Favorite credits include: Penny in Hairspray<\/em> in Northport, Cat in the Hat in Seussical<\/em> at the Lucille Lortel, originating the role of Jenny for Theaterworks\u2019 Click, Clack, Moo<\/em>, 1st national tour of How the Grinch Stole Christmas<\/em>, Kate in Kiss Me, Kate!<\/em> at Westchester Broadway Theatre, Li\u2019l Abner<\/em> at Goodspeed, Ruby in Dames at Sea<\/em>, Kathy in Singin\u2019 in the Rai<\/em>n, and 42nd Street<\/em> in Russia. Special thanks to Sarah for this opportunity to work on the Island! Love to God, Jonathan, family, and friends. Krista is a proud member of Actors\u2019 Equity. kristakurtzberg.com<\/a>

\r\n\r\nDIANA MARBURY<\/strong> (Betty Meeks, Set Decor) has appeared in over 40 HTC productions, most recently as Polly Wyeth in Other Desert Cities<\/em>. She directed How the Other Half Loves<\/em> last spring and will put back on her director\u2019s hat for the company\u2019s upcoming production of God of Carnage<\/em>. She would like to thank all the \u201cbehind the scenes\u201d people who make these productions possible.



\r\n\r\nJOE PALLISTER<\/a><\/strong> (Rev. David Marshall Lee, Graphic Design<\/a>) has appeared with the Hampton Theatre Company in The Drawer Boy<\/em> (Morgan), Other People\u2019s Money<\/em> (Coles), Good People<\/em> (Mike Dillon), One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest<\/em> (McMurphy), Doubt<\/em> (Father Flynn), A Streetcar Named Desire<\/em> (Stanley), Summer and Smok<\/em>e (John Buchanan Jr.) and Lobby Hero<\/em> (Bill). Other local work includes Bay Street\u2019s productions of To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em> (Bob Ewell) and The Diary of Anne Frank<\/em> (Mr. Kraler), The Cripple of Inishmaan<\/em> (Babby Bobby) at Guild Hall and Of Mice and Men<\/em> (George), True West<\/em> (Lee) and Twleve Angry Men<\/em> with Southampton\u2019s Center Stage. Film roles include Steve in Refuge<\/em> and Hunter in Dark Was The Night<\/em> and the feature film Sebastien<\/em> starring Cathy Moriarty. Other credits include recurring roles on both One Life to Live<\/em> and Guiding Light<\/em>. He has also appeared in several mildly humiliating skits on Late Night With Conan O\u2019Brien<\/em>. joepallister.com<\/a>

\r\n\r\nBEN SCHNICKEL<\/strong> (Ellard Simms) played Miles in HTC\u2019s production of The Drawer Boy<\/em> last spring as well as Chris Foster in Becky\u2019s New Car<\/em> and Jason in Rabbit Hole<\/em>. He is a New York-based actor whose credits there include When You Comin\u2019 Back, Red Ryder?<\/em>, Rabbit Hole<\/em>, Six Degrees of Separation<\/em>, Billy Witch<\/em>, The Dreamer Examines His Pillow<\/em>, Rent<\/em>, A.R. Gurney\u2019s What I Did Last Summer<\/em> and Bekah Brunstetter\u2019s Spac<\/em>e. A native of Minneapolis, he has also performed there at the Guthrie Theater and the Children\u2019s Theatre Company. He received his B.F.A. in Acting from Ithaca College.

\r\n\r\nLARRY SHUE<\/strong> (Playwright) was an actor and playwright at the height of his career when he was killed in a commuter plane crash at the age of 39 in 1985. Early plays include the one-act Grandma Duck is Dead<\/em>, which was performed on National Public Radio, My Emperor\u2019s New Clothes<\/em>, and Wenceslas Squar<\/em>e, but his great successes were The Nerd<\/em> and The Foreigner<\/em>, both still running in New York and London at the time of his death, when he was also about to make his Broadway acting debut in The Mystery of Edwin Drood<\/em> and was working on the screenplay of The Foreigner<\/em> for Disney. HTC Executive Director Sarah Hunnewell still remembers with a smile seeing Mr. Shue play The Foreigner<\/em>\u2019s title role during the play\u2019s NYC debut at the Astor Place Theatre in 1984, which won two Obie Awards and the Outer Circle Award for Best Off Broadway Play. The HTC is happy to revive one of the funniest plays in its history.

\r\n\r\nSARAH HUNNEWELL<\/strong> (Director) has directed many shows for the Hampton Theatre Company, favorites among which include The Drawer Boy<\/em>, Rabbit Hole<\/em>, The Enchanted April<\/em>, One Flew Over The Cuckoo\u2019s Nest<\/em>, The Oldest Living Graduate<\/em>, Fuddy Meers<\/em>, Summer and Smoke<\/em>, and The Rainmake<\/em>r. She is also the Jill-of-all-trades otherwise known as the Executive Director of the HTC. Many thanks to her excellent cast and crew for their hard work on this production and to our audience members, patrons and all the people who make help make our work possibl

\r\n\r\nSEAN MARBURY<\/strong> (Set Designer) has designed the sets for the HTC\u2019s productions of Other Desert Cities<\/em>, How the Other Half Loves<\/em>, Other People\u2019s Money<\/em>, and Deathtrap<\/em> and worked in collaboration with James Ewing on The Drawer Boy<\/em>. He has worked for many years building HTC sets alongside his father Peter and friend James Ewing. He is thrilled to once again don the esteemed mantle of set designer with this production.

\r\n\r\nSEBASTIAN PACZYNSKI<\/strong> (Lighting Designer) first worked with the Hampton Theatre Company when he designed the company\u2019s 2003 production of Summer and Smoke<\/em> at Guild Hall and has designed all the company\u2019s productions since Proof<\/em> in 2004 as well as the theater\u2019s new lighting system. He has designed lighting for theater, dance and special events in a number of Broadway, Off Broadway, Off Off Broadway and regional venues. He has also worked in film and television as the director of photography. He has designed numerous productions for Guild Hall and for the Hamptons Shakespeare Festival.

\r\n\r\nTERESA LEBRUN<\/strong> (Costume Designer) is the resident costumer for the Hampton Theatre Company and has designed costumes for all the company\u2019s recent productions. Teresa has also costumed for Spindletop Productions at Guild Hall. Much love to her boys Josh and Noah.

\r\n\r\nJOHN ZALESKI<\/strong> (Stage Manager). It\u2019s a wonderful joy to again work with my friends Andrew, George, Tom and Cyrus, and my new friend, Rocky. Thank you to our amazing production team for sharing their expertise and absolute top quality talent and dedication here at HTC.

\r\n\r\nCHRISSIE DEPIERRO<\/strong> (Assistant Stage Manager) began with the Hampton Theatre Company this season. I\u2019m thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful and talented group of people that make the production come alive. Many thanks to Mickey Moroney and James Ewing for the opportunity to have the time of my life.

\r\n\r\nROB DOWLING<\/strong> (Lighting & Sound Technician) has done lighting and sound for 22 years at the North Fork Community Theater, Vail-Leavitt Music Hall, Producer\u2019s Club (NYC), the Loft Theater at Dowling College and the Southampton Cultural Center. He has also helped Sebastian with lighting set up at Guild Hall, the Ross School, and other local venues. This is Rob\u2019s seventh season with the Hampton Theatre Company. He is very happy to be part of the show and the company.

\r\n\n <\/div>\n

PRODUCTION STAFF<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \t\r\n
\r\nDirector – SARAH HUNNEWELL
\r\nSet Design & Decor – SEAN MARBURY
\r\nSet Decor & Properties – DIANA MARBURY
\r\nLighting Design – SEBASTIAN PACZYNSKI
\r\nCostume Design – TERESA LEBRUN
\r\nStage Manager & Properties – JOHN ZALESKI
\r\nAssistant Stage Manager – CHRISSIE DEPIERRO
\r\nBackstage Crew – BOB ARCHER\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n
\r\nSet Construction – SEAN MARBURY, TONY CINQUE, JAMES EWING, FREDDIE GUZMAN,\r\nMICK MORONEY, SEAMUS NAUGHTON, VINCENT RASULO
\r\nLighting\/Sound Tech – ROB DOWLING, SEAMUS NAUGHTON
\r\nSound Design – SARAH HUNNEWELL, SEAMUS NAUGHTON
\r\nProduction Graphics – JOE PALLISTER<\/a>
\r\nProgram, Publicity & Box Office – SARAH HUNNEWELL
\r\nHouse Manager – JULIA MORGAN ABRAMS
\r\nAdvertising Sales – SARAH HUNNEWELL, LUCINDA MORRISEY, PIA TAGUE
\r\nProduction Photographer – TOM KOCHIE\r\n\r\n<\/div>
<\/div>\r\n\n <\/div>\n

REVIEWS<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \t\r\n

‘THE FOREIGNER’ HITS THE MARK<\/h3>\r\nBy Steve Parks\r\n(Newsday)<\/strong>

\r\n\r\nThe Foreigner” is a play that critics tend to dismiss while audiences howl at its comic improbability. But this edgy farce has acquired more heft in the 30 years since its Off-Broadway debut.

\r\n\r\nFor those who are aware that its creator, Larry Shue, died in a plane crash at age 39 less than a year after opening night, “The Foreigner” survives as bittersweet elegy. One of the early complaints of critics concerns the characterization of the Southern country folk who populate the setting — a Georgia fishing lodge — as rubes. But Charlie, the shy Englishman who utters no English, earnestly makes as big a fool of himself as anyone in the room. So much for snobbery.

\r\n\r\nIts popularity and one-room set make “The Foreigner” a favorite among regional theaters across the country. The most recent local resurrection before the current Hampton Theatre Company staging was by Northport’s John W. Engeman Theater in 2009.

\r\n\r\nDirector Sarah Hunnewell meets the challenge of pitting clowning against criminal hate on Sean Marbury’s expansive log-cabin set. Hate, sadly, remains obstinately robust today.

\r\n\r\nMatthew Conlon convinces us of Charlie’s metamorphosis from self-defeating introvert to generous friend who brightens the lives of everyone around him. Everyone except those who would do his friends harm.

\r\n\r\n“Froggy” prescribes the backwoods resort as an antidote to Charlie’s depression over his wife’s poor health and chronic infidelity. Because Charlie says he’s too distraught to speak to strangers, Froggy (avuncular Terry Brockbank) tells the lady of the lodge, Betty, that his friend speaks only in a foreign tongue. When he unintentionally eavesdrops on an intimate conversation between David, a circumspect man of the cloth, and his fiancee, Charlie is forgiven when it’s explained that he understood not a word. In work shoes and aproned dress (costumes by Teresa Lebrun), Diana Marbury has us believing she’s a lifelong country girl. Krista Kurtzberg as Catherine, a former debutante, makes us wonder what she sees in David — except that he’s a hunk — deviously played by Joe Pallister. Catherine’s brother Ellard is portrayed by Ben Schnickel with admirable restraint as a dimwit who’s smarter than he sounds, while James Ewing’s snarling Klansman turns comedy into crisis. Still mangling his English, Charlie describes his white-robed-and-hooded antagonist as “sheet-head.”

\r\n\r\nBut it’s the physical comedy — Charlie’s gibberish storytelling and mirrored breakfast-table pantomime with Ellard — that makes “The Foreigner” a dichotomous delight.\r\n

THE FOREIGNER’: A FROTHY ROMP OF A REVIVAL<\/h3>\r\nBy Lorraine Dusky\r\n(The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press)<\/strong>

\r\n\r\nSilly frothy fun is what \u201cThe Foreigner\u201d delivers, as it points a broadsword at stereotypical Southerners, racists and avaricious preachers more interested in property deeds than good deeds.

\r\n\r\nA nimble troupe of actors under the apt direction of Sarah Hunnewell is reviving this lively jig of theater at the Hampton Theatre Company in Quogue. Larry Shue\u2019s play is dense and complicated, but never loses sight of the farce at its heart.

\r\n\r\nThe 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 \u201cThe Foreigner\u201d to life, for it had a highly successful run here in 1991.

\r\n\r\nAs 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\u2019s a hoot!

\r\n\r\nThe 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\u2019s wife finds him boring\u2014still, she may be dying\u2014and he insists he is too distraught even to speak to anyone.

\r\n\r\nFroggy, 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\u2019t understand English. Thus the merriment ensues as the other guests assume they can speak the absolute truth in front of Charlie\u2014the pregnant Catherine, engaged to the conniving minister, Rev. David, who plots to have the lodge \u201ccondemned\u201d and trick the owner, the good-hearted Betty, out of a rightful sale.

\r\n\r\nThrow in Catherine\u2019s dim-witted brother, Ellard; a Southern good ole boy, Owen, who aims to rid the area of blacks, Jews, Catholics and foreigners; a few locals; and stir vigorously.

\r\n\r\nRevealing more plot than that is going to ruin half the fun.

\r\n\r\nThe 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\u2019s Bay Street, where he acted in Joe Pintauro\u2019s \u201cMen\u2019s Lives.\u201d

\r\n\r\nAs 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.

\r\n\r\nHe briskly glides through an intricate act of imitative ritual with his language teacher, Ellard\u2014portrayed by Ben Schnickel\u2014that is straight out of screwball comedy before he breaks out into an increasingly ridiculous series of slapstick poses as he acts out a children\u2019s fairy tale, complete with ogre.

\r\n\r\nKrista Kurtzberg portrays the Southern belle Catherine, who fondly remembers being a deb a few years earlier \u201csipping drinks in revolving restaurants.\u201d Actor Joe Pallister is the scheming minister she\u2019s set to marry, until in comes Charlie.

\r\n\r\nAlong the way, the devious plot\u2014and a subplot involving Ellard\u2014is foiled, and Charlie may or may not win Catherine\u2019s banged-up heart. Mr. Conlon has been away from theater in the Hamptons for more than two decades\u2014far too long\u2014and his return augurs well for us.

\r\n\r\nThe 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 Ellard, Catherine\u2019s doofus brother who ain\u2019t so stupid after all. James Ewing\u2019s performance as the good ole boy racist could be muted a tad, as some of the dialogue get lost in his velocity and volume. Mr. Ewing, incidentally, co-founded HTC in 1984, and has been in more than 20 productions since then.

\r\n\r\nRounding out the cast is Diana Marbury, who portrays Betty, the inn\u2019s proprietor with heart and verve. The set design by Sean Marbury has the down-home look of many a country lodge.

\r\n\r\nFollowing an initial run in Milwaukee, \u201cThe Foreigner\u201d 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.

\r\n\r\nCritics usually get their creds by picking apart and finding fault in what they are reviewing, but the Sunday afternoon performance of \u201cThe Foreigner\u201d was such a romp that clever-but-nasty words cannot be summoned.



\r\n\r\nIn short, it\u2019s fun, it\u2019s smart, it\u2019s a good time.\r\n

\u201cTHE FOREIGNER\u201d IS INNOCENT, MAGICAL FUN<\/h3>\r\nby Beth Young\r\n(East End Beacon)<\/strong>\r\n

\r\nThe first thing you\u2019ll probably hear about Hampton Theatre Company\u2019s new production of \u201cThe Foreigner\u201d is that it\u2019s pretty darn funny.

\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s quite true, but what you might not hear about this gem of a play, which will continue for two weekends at the Quogue Community Hall, is that, while on the surface it is a farce, it\u2019s also a sweet testament to the genuine, magical bedrock of human nature.

\r\n\r\n\u201cThe Foreigner,\u201d written by Larry Shue and first performed in 1984, is the story of Charlie Baker (Matthew Conlon), a British proofreader for a science fiction magazine who is convinced by an old military buddy, \u201cFroggy\u201d LeSueur (Terry Brockbank), to embark on a trip to a fishing lodge in the Georgia woods to take his mind off his wife\u2019s impending death.

\r\n\r\nShy Charlie, terrified at the idea of meeting new people in his distressed state, convinces Froggy to concoct an elaborate ruse to keep Charlie from having to interact with anyone, setting off a series of more and more ridiculous events that culminate in a showdown with the Ku Klux Klan and an evil building inspector.

\r\n\r\nThe characters in \u201cThe Foreigner\u201d are broadly drawn, and that\u2019s intentional. There\u2019s the wealthy Georgia belle Catherine (Krista Kurtzberg) and her dull-witted brother Ellard (Ben Schnickel). There\u2019s the evil redneck Owen Musser (James Ewing) and backwoods matron innkeeper Betty Meeks (Diana Marbury). There\u2019s David Marshall Lee (Joe Pallister), a preacher with none-so-holy intentions and a faint family connection to Robert E. Lee, who plans to marry the Georgia belle.

\r\n\r\nAny one of these characters could have been played to type, with little imagination, but Shue gives them a little more to work with, and each of the actors brings a boisterous, innocent enthusiasm to their roles, rescuing them from resorting to stereotype.

\r\n\r\nMs. Marbury and Mr. Schnickel turn in particularly solid performances, but their characters are given the most room for growth. Betty Meeks desperately wants to meet foreigners, to learn their ways, to escape from her backwoods existence. Ellard knows people think he\u2019s dumb, but darn it, he\u2019d really like to recite Shakespeare.

\r\n\r\nCatherine, well, she knows there\u2019s more to life than a Georgia fishing lodge, and David Marshall Lee, with the help of Owen Musser, may just prove that the evilest of hearts can lie behind a veneer of holiness.

\r\n\r\nMatthew Conlon plays Charlie, with a perfect wry smile teasing his lips as the other characters, unaware that he can understand them, unveil the plot. He simply nods, smiles and drinks his tea. It isn\u2019t until the second act that Charlie\u2019s pent-up penchant for physical comedy and speaking in tongues takes flight, and that\u2019s where Mr. Conlon really shines.

\r\n\r\nIt takes a great deal of the first act to introduce the characters and set up the storyline. That\u2019s a fault in the writing, not in this production, adeptly directed by HTC Executive Director Sarah Hunnewell.

\r\n\r\nThe hilarity springs up, suddenly, when Charlie is left alone midway through the performance with the dullard Ellard, who decides he\u2019s going to teach this strange, mute foreigner to speak English.

\r\n\r\nCharlie proves a star pupil, learning English at breakneck speed as the other denizens of the lodge look on in amazement, and telling elaborate, sidesplitting stories in his fake native language, which sounds like a cross between Russian and Klingon.

\r\n\r\nCharlie and Ellard\u2019s delightfully madcap friendship was made possible by Charlie\u2019s initial deception, but the honesty of their emotional abandon rings a bell of a greater truth.

\r\n\r\nWhen Froggy grabs a moment alone with Charlie and asks if he wants to call off the deception, Charlie refuses, with perhaps the most vocal certitude of his entire life. By becoming a new person, he realized, he has found his true self, hidden for years behind the proofreader\u2019s desk. He\u2019s not only helped Ellard feel competent, but, by the end of the show, he hatches a plan to save his new friends from an awful, evil plot. And he has the audience with him, rooting for him all the way.

\r\n\r\nTo find out more, you\u2019ll need to go see \u201cThe Foreigner\u201d for yourself.



\r\n\r\n\r\n

FOREIGN FUN IN QUOGUE<\/h3>\r\nLarry Shue\u2019s hilarious hit, which is all laughs from start to finish\r\nby Bridget LeRoy\r\n(East Hampton Star)<\/strong>

\r\n\r\nAll Charlie Baker wants is some peace and quiet \u2014 from his humdrum London desk job, his dying wife, and his own demons. But when Froggy LeSueur, an English military type still with the barest whiff of colonialism about him, brings the staid British bore on a three-day job 100 miles south of Atlanta, a mishmash of mushmouth and cultural clashes ensues, with jaw-hurting hilarity.

\r\n\r\nFroggy, played with gusto by Terry Brockbank, only wants his friend Charlie to restiffen his upper lip on an annual work-related sojourn Froggy makes across the pond. But Charlie (Matthew Conlon) only wants to be left alone, so Froggy tells the others in the backwoods bed-and-breakfast that Charlie cannot speak a word of English \u2013 he\u2019s a \u201cforeigner.\u201d

\r\n\r\nThen Froggy leaves for his military lectures and \u201cto blow up a mountain,\u201d and Charlie is left with the Widow Meeks, a scheming reverend, the reverend\u2019s ex-debutante fianc\u00e9e and possibly idiot brother, and an evil local official who wants to take over the widow\u2019s home and make it ground zero for the white-sheet crowd.

\r\n\r\nThis isn\u2019t even giving away the best plot lines in the late Larry Shue\u2019s hilarious hit, which is all laughs from start to finish.

\r\n\r\nWhat greets the audience first is another stellar set by Sean Marbury. There is no doubt that this is a well-loved and well-used lodge, complete with stuffed animal heads and plaid living room set. Sebastian Paczynski\u2019s lighting conjures the Spanish moss hanging from the trees outside and the mist on the lake.

\r\n\r\nSarah Hunnewell directs deftly, with some moments that are picture-perfect. Diane Marbury as the widow and owner of the cabin rules her roost, Joe Pallister vacillates between unctuous and nefarious as the soon-to-be-wed cleric, Krista Kurtzberg and Ben Schnickel are wonderful additions to the play as the sister and brother who stand to inherit a meaty fortune, and James Ewing is suitably hateful as the crazy cracker.

\r\n\r\nBut Mr. Conlon, who has trod the East End boards and beyond for many a year, gives a performance of such magnitude that this should forever be considered his role. From a panic-stricken and self-absorbed clerk to the exotic \u201cforeigner\u201d who amuses and entertains the cabin-dwellers, often in pantomime, Mr. Conlon offers a transformation of character that is as broad as it is believable.

\r\n\r\nThere are many short-and-sweet messages contained within this topsy-turvy world, where idiots are teachers, blonde ingenues are more than they appear, crazy seems sane, and sane is boring. The Hampton Theatre Company continues its steady season by hitting one out of the park. With a PG-13 rating for mild swearing, this is a family-friendly show, and teens and young adults alike should be gently encouraged to see a live production every bit as amusing as a sitcom episode.

\r\n\n <\/div>\n

AUDIENCE COMMENTS<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \t\r\nI had seen this farce years ago in a performance by a community theater group on the west coast, and dimly remembered it as pleasant and amusing but nothing really special. I felt your production might be considerably more professional, and hoped for the best.\r\n\r\nWhat Larry and I saw was a production so beautifully cast, so well-acted, and so close to flawless that I doubt any production of this long-popular farce has ever been more satisfying.\r\n\r\nI had to go back to Wikipedia to make sure that the ending had not been rewritten, for I recalled nothing so dramatic and hilarious from that long-ago and half-forgotten production. Well, few community theaters can create a set as eloquent as the one that met our eyes, nor find set and lighting designers who can convince us that a truck has just been dynamited just outside the fishing lodge in which the play is acted out.\r\n\r\nMy husband was drawn into the world created on your stage before the play even started, for he murmured happily at the striped bass on the wall along with other lesser fish and a pair of antlers, and remarked softly, “You know, I think my grandma had a pair of sofa cushions like the two on the safa with pinecones on them.”\r\n\r\nNo detail was jarring, and we in the audience willingly suspended disbelief and (like everyone but Owen Musser and Rev. Lee) fell for this performance’s lanky Charlie. (I hope you will tell Matthew Conlon that NO ONE but he and Pete Seeger can transform themselves into a dancing ogre with such success! As Charlie was acting out his story I immediately flashed back to Pete becoming Abiyoyo as he recounted the story of that giant onstage back in Pomona College auditorium in 1959, dancing and leaping with clumsy glee at hearing himself celebrated by ukelele music and a song made of his repeated name, until finally he was so exhausted by dancing that he fell flat onto the ground — letting the magic wand belonging to the singer’s father be waved above him, causing him to disappear rather than stay and eat everyone in the village.) MAGIC. If you have never seen Pete do this in person, recorded versions of the story-song can give you an idea of what it is like.\r\n\r\nBut so could the tale told by Charlie in last night’s performance.\r\n\r\nI had expected to enjoy myself, but I came home feeling blissful: I had seen what was the most perfectly-performed version of a beautifully-crafted farce that I can imagine. Thank you for bringing it to us.\r\n– ALICE MCLERRAN<\/strong>\r\n\r\nBy far the best show we have ever seen at Hampton Theatre Company. The acting was superb – each part so well done. And very funny! It was a wonderful evening! Thank you.\r\n– JEANIE WHITING, THE AWNING COMPANY<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThank you for a perfectly delightful production of \u201cThe Foreigner.\u201d My wife and I enjoyed every moment from the Broadway quality set, the perfect casting and the exquisite timing of the actors\u2019 humorous interplay. Congratulations again and thanks for bringing this level of theatre to the East End. With appreciation,\r\n– DAVE SAGMAN<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe acting and production were superb, truly a most memorable evening, well up to Broadway standards!\r\n– CHRIS ELDIN<\/strong>\r\n\r\nBravo and thank you. We have just seen a magnificent performance of Larry Shue’s “The Foreigner.\u201d What a treat for our community. Diana Marbury gave a brilliant rendition of Betty Meeks. Terry, Ben and especially Matthew were wildly funny in their roles. The whole company is to be congratulated. Keep up the wonderful works.\r\n– ELLEN & PAUL PFAFF<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGreat sets, great acting\u2026\u2026as usual.\r\n– HENRY A. FELDMAN<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\u201cThe Foreigner\u201d is absolutely hilarious and was brilliantly acted by all.\r\n– FRED VOLKMER<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI love your productions! Thank you so much for all of your hard work. \u201dThe Foreigner” was EXCEPTIONAL!\r\n– MARK KRAUSS<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWonderful play, wonderful cast, wonderful set. A truly delightful evening. Congratulations to you all.\r\n– SUSAN GELLMAN<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAnother masterful directing job by Sarah Hunnewell! We really enjoyed the play and are recommending it to everyone we see.\r\n– NANCY MULLAN<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGreat night – dinner at Ocean and your great production. Many thanks.\r\n– KEN JACOPPI<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGreat show! We really enjoyed it! It was our first time there and we will be back!\r\n– CAROLYN FEELEY<\/strong>\r\n\r\nBest show I have seen at the theater….acting absolutely terrific..setting perfect, thanks for an outstanding time!\r\n– CHRISTINE CZAJKOWSKI<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\u201cThe Foreigner\u201d was absolutely brilliant. As a Brit I can say it was a huge success and everyone involved should be congratulated. It is so important to keep local theatre going to bring dramatics to people in an affordable manner. I can\u2019t wait to revisit a Hampton Theatre Company production again.\r\n– MICHAEL CROMBIE<\/strong>\r\n\r\nA great performance by a great group of performers and a superb staging. Thank you Hampton Theatre for an afternoon of belly laughs.\r\n– GILBERT DOMINO<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI enjoyed the Saturday night production of “The Foreigner” very much. It’s a great plot supported by an inspired cast. Every character was well-developed. It was a flawless production. AND very funny!\r\n– LARRY LIDDLE<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAll five in my party loved the show, as we always do. I look forward to \u201cGod of Carnage.\u201d The actors, settings, etc. are always superb. As always, congratulations!\r\n– BETTY WILSON<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWe were still laughing all the way home. All the actors were perfect but Matthew Conlon and James Ewing stole the show with their outstanding performance. Great job (as always), Sarah.\r\n– BARBARA DEMY<\/strong>\r\n\r\nMY FRIENDS AND I THOUGHT YESTERDAY’S PERFORMANCE OF “THE FOREIGNER” WAS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC\u2026..ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS THIS SEASON!! WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING “GOD OF CARNAGE” IN JUNE. MANY THANKS FOR BRINGING SUCH WONDERFUL SHOWS TO LONG ISLAND!!!\r\n– BETTY ENTRESS<\/strong>\r\n\r\nA great cast with great material to work with. We enjoyed the play immensely. Mr. Ewing is too convincing as an evil Klansman, good thing he’s only acting! Thanks for another wonderful evening.\r\n– STAN AND LINDA WOLLMERS<\/strong>\r\n\r\nHats off to The Foreigner!!! What a great play – everything about it was fabulous! My husband and I laughed from beginning to end!!! Thoroughly enjoyable and one of your best performances EVER!!!\r\n– LINDA EUELL<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\r\n\r\nGallery images by Tom Kochie\r\n\r\n\n\t\t