The Foreigner The Innocent Among Us: The Foreigner Opens at Summer Place

The Foreigner presented by A Summer Place Theatre at Naperville Central High School, Naperville June 15-24, 2001

This time around, Naperville's Summer Place welcomes us to a quaint fishing lodge in rural Tilghman County, Georgia. Taking advantage of the stereotypical reputation of the South, Larry Shue's fine comedy The Foreigner paints a landscape of southern hospitality and simple pleasures, of shady southern Bible-thumpers and the KKK. Into this rural setting, to our delight, come two foreigners from England - Froggy LeSeur and Charlie Baker (it's a name, not a code) - through whose eyes we view the locals.

Charlie is a shy Englishman roped and dragged to the U.S. by his friend Froggy, who is here for a training maneuver with his military outfit. Froggy is wonderfully played by Tom Ulbrich, chatty and comfortable on stage, ready to keep the play going by himself if need be. Charlie, on the other hand, is at first very low-key. In his own words, he is "shatteringly, profoundly boring," and his wife back home lets him know this by sleeping around with no fewer than 23 men (make that 24 by the end). Charlie needs a break, and he wants nothing more than to be left alone, to avoid all social obligations.

Here comes the complication: in order to make his friend more comfortable for the brief stay, Froggy tells the guests of the lodge that Charlie does not speak English. Unfamiliar with foreigners, the locals therefore accept any silliness, assuming it is part of some strange ritual known only to Charlie and his fellow countrymen. To add to the fun, the other five principals, assuming that Charlie cannot understand them, speak freely around him; he is privy to secrets and plots that he should not be overhearing. (Remember Jerzy Kosinski's novel Being There, later produced as a movie with Peter Sellers? There Kosinski's Chance, another stranger in a strange land, finds himself an unwitting confidant, perhaps because he does not understand what he is being told and cannot judge the speaker. Charlie is Chance, except for the fact that he can actually understand.)

The role of Charlie is a plum for any actor. His silent reactions, understood by those in the know (the audience), are a real source of delight. Later, as Charlie begins to have fun behind the mask, his gibberish, his cavorting about the stage telling stories from his 'native' land, and even his humiliation of the bad guys are all very entertaining if performed with an imaginative flair. Mike Kolodziej as Charlie has fun with the role, realizing its potential and basking in the laughter. Despite a slow start during which his cue pickup needed work, Kolodziej soon rose to the occasion and took on the challenge.

Of course, Charlie does not work in a void. Krystyn Wells, as the simple lodge owner Betty Meeks, brings considerable warmth and innocence to the scene. As the owner of the lodge, she needs to better relate to the room, to make us know she is at home. However, she clearly understands her comedic moments and commits to them. An amiable friend of Froggy, she is the first local to connect with Charlie.

Then come the two boarders who are thinking of buying the lodge - two adult siblings from a moneyed background. Whether or not the audience learns to like Catherine and her simple brother Ellard - or even Betty - is crucial to the play's happy ending. As Ellard Sims, producer Brian Sommer is energetic and likeable, if perhaps a bit monotonous in his movement and expression. Charlie pretends to learn English from the southerner, while actually educating Ellard and bolstering his confidence. The audience delights in Ellard's good nature when he resorts to his simplemindedness after helping to foil the evil plans of the KKK.

Emily Elizabeth Bezdek faces perhaps the biggest acting challenge in the play other than Kolodziej. At first shown to be tense and moody, Catherine is not immediately appealing. Instead, the playwright unfolds her character slowly. She is pregnant and unmarried, she misses her comfortable adolescence on the plantation, and she is impatient with Ellard. She only opens up to Charlie because she thinks he cannot understand English. This is a tough sell, especially since her brother, supposedly from the same moneyed background, is dressed as a total hick. Ms. Bezdek, perhaps missing a few early opportunities to soften her character, does manage to turn the corner and engage the audience. After all, she is one of the good guys.

There are bad guys as well. Sean O'Brien plays Owen Musser, the ruffian from the KKK and a co-conspirator with Reverend David Marshall Lee (Robert Nardini), Catherine's smarmy and greedy fiancé, who is trying to steal the lodge from the good guys. Along with director Brenda Gilmore, O'Brien is to be commended for giving us an Owen Musser who is convincing, able to be cruel and unrefined on one hand and easily frightened on the other. Nardini too often lacks commitment and intent, perhaps unwilling to really show us the dark side when he has the chance. He is more convincing with the nice guy mask on than he was with it off.

Amy Jessup-Tilford has designed a beautiful lodge setting, complete with rough-hewn timber and a deer head over the stone fireplace. Various rural implements adorn the walls, such as a wagon wheel, a scythe, and a fishing net. Beautifully lit by William Tilford, this set welcomes us into a world defined by the Dueling Banjos theme heard as each scene opens.

Overall, this production of The Foreigner is a success. Once again, Naperville's The Summer Place has staged a fine evening's entertainment. The show runs through July 15, so phone 630 355-7969 ASAP to reserve your tickets.