Community Corner
THE FOREIGNER
The Hampton Theatre Company revives one of the greatest hits in the company’s history, Larry Shue’s The Foreigner, from March 13 through March 30 at the Quogue Community Hall. Philip Brandes of the LA Times called the play “outrageously funny” and “one of the few modern comedies that remains true to human nature despite its absurd excesses.”
Charlie Baker, the shy Englishman who morphs into an unexpected hero, is played by Matthew Conlon, making a return to the Quogue stage. He appeared with the HTC as John Proctor in The Crucible, as Morris Townsend in The Heiress and as Henry in The Real Thing.
Diana Marbury plays innocent innkeeper Betty Meeks and James Ewing plays the two tattooed redneck firebrand Owen Musser, reviving the roles they played in the company's 1990 production.
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They will be joined by three other HTC veterans. Joe Pallister plays the Reverend David Marshall Lee, Ben Schnickel Ellard Simms, and Terry Brockbank “Froggy” LeSeuer.
The company welcomes a newcomer and genuine Georgia native Krista Kurtzberg in the role of wealthy young ex-debutant Catherine Simms.
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Sarah Hunnewell, HTC’s executive director, directs. The set is by Sean Marbury, lighting by Sebastian Paczynski and costumes by Teresa Lebrun.
The Foreigner is the best-known play by Larry Shue, the promising young playwright and actor who died tragically in a plane crash at the height of his success in 1985. At the time of his death, productions of two of his plays, The Foreigner and The Nerd, were running in both London and New York, he was about to make his Broadway debut in The Mystery of Edwin Drood and he was working on a screenplay of The Foreigner for Disney.
Chicago Theater Beat accurately called The Foreigner “a charming comedy about the magic of kindness.” Director Sarah Hunnewell says it is exactly that, though it is hilarious as well as charming.
Hampton Theatre Company’s production of The Foreigner runs, at the Quogue Community Hall, from March 13 through March 30. Showtimes are Thursdays and Fridays at 7, Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 2:30. To reserve show tickets, visit www.hamptontheatre.org, or call OvationTix at 1-866-811-4111.
