Must-See Comedy The Foreigner at Arts Center Theatre

Marco Island Arts Center Theatre concludes its inaugural season with The Foreigner by Larry Shue, playing April 19 through May 7.

Larry Shue wrote the play in 1984 as a fun two-act comedy. The story takes place in a simple fishing lodge in the middle of rural Georgia where two Englishmen, Froggy and Charlie, arrive as guests of lodge owner Betty Meeks. Charlie is very shy and adopts the persona of a foreigner who does not speak English to discourage interaction.

Betty makes an off-hand remark about how difficult it is to communicate with foreigners – which gives Froggy the brilliant idea to tell Betty that Charlie is “from an exotic country and speaks no English.”

From this brief description alone, as a writer, you can add a lot of elements of comedy to the play. But due to the timeline and location, you can also combine elements of drama and have the best of both worlds play out.

The Foreigner is a play that aims to make us laugh, and though it deals with societal issues that are as relevant in the 1980s as they are today, Director Bonnie Knapp provided the audience with a good balance between the delivery of comedy and the serious stuff.

According to Knapp, “good won over evil,” and as a comedy, found a way to resolve those issues and make the audience laugh.

Having attended the dress rehearsal, I asked myself which of the characters I would like to play. I am a supporter of the underdog, so I would like to play Catherine, Ellard or Betty as they all showed a fascination with Charlie as “exotic” and foreign.

In the end, Catherine, Ellard, and Betty bonded through their common experiences when Charlie said, “We – all of us - we’re becoming, we’re making one another complete and alive.”

The Foreigner received two Obie Awards and two Outer Critics Circle Awards as Best New American Play and Best Off-Broadway Production.

As a community theatre, you may have seen several members of the cast in previous productions of ACT.  

Director Bonnie Knapp Recently Beer for Breakfast at the Studio Players and Good People for the Marco Players. Bonnie has been acting and directing for over 30 years.

Daniel Cancio plays Charlie Baker and has been acting in Florida for the last seven years. He has a bachelor’s degree in theatre and has been in numerous productions.

Jay Terzis, who plays Froggy, is thrilled to be back onstage at ACT after a successful appearance in Plaza Suite.

Will Connors plays Reverend David Lee. This is his theatre debut with ACT. You may have seen his mother, Jackie Weiner, who got Will back on stage.

Cindy J. Rea plays Betty Meeks. She is so happy to return to this stage. She was last seen here as Mickey the Cop in the female version of The Odd Couple.

Kenneth Howard plays Ellard Simms. Howard has been taking acting classes and doing readers theatre at the Naples Players. Kenneth loves the theatre and is excited to be part of the cast for The Foreigner.

Morgan Perdue plays Catherine Simms. This is her first theatre debut for ACT. She sends a special thanks to Jackie Weiner for her encouragement and to her boyfriend and “stage husband,” Will Connors, for his support both on stage and at home.

Alex Costello plays Owen Musser, the County Property Inspector, and is making his eighth appearance in a Marco Island theatre production.

Celebrate the Arts Center Theatre’s season finale production of The Foreigner, a true community theatre production. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday matinees at 3:00 PM at the Arts Center Theatre in the Marco Town Center, 1089 N. Collier Boulevard. For tickets visit www.marcoislandart.org or call 239-394-4221.