The Santa Maria Civic Theatre offers hilarity in 'The Foreigner'

The Santa Maria Civic Theatre began its 56th season strong with its production of the heartfelt play The Dixie Swim Club, but that was just a warm-up for the next and current production, The Foreigner by Larry Shue. The ensemble of actors and backstage crew members completely embrace and embody the hilarious romp, and the payoff is laughs, lots of them.

click to enlarge The Santa Maria Civic Theatre offers hilarity in 'The Foreigner'
PHOTO COURTESY OF PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD
PLAYING DUMB: Socially awkward Brit Charlie (Steve Mahr, pictured left) must feign ignorance of the English language in a Georgia bed and breakfast where he gets to know Southerners like Ellard (Jim Moonier, right).

The Foreigner relates the story of a socially awkward and meek Brit name Charlie (Steve Mahr), who is brought to a Georgia bed and breakfast by his old friend Froggy LaSuer (Stuart Wenger), a demolitions expert who has work at a nearby military base. The plan is to leave Charlie under the care of the owner Betty (Sally Ann Buchanan) for the weekend while Froggy is away.

In a fit of nervous apprehension at the thought of interacting with nothing but strangers for a weekend, Charlie begins a paranoid spiral. He requests that Froggy somehow relay to the owner that he doesn’t want to be talked to, only because he fears the prospect of conversation and his lack of ever saying anything interesting. We have very little time to get to know Charlie before the main plot point enters the scenario, but Mahr portrays the awkward and hopeless character, complete with an upper-middle-class British accent, immediately.

Froggy sends Charlie up to his room to relax, and not long after we meet the Southern owner of the bed and breakfast, Betty (Sally Ann Buchanan). The two are old friends and begin chatting as such. Betty tells Froggy that she’s feeling older and regrets never leaving her mountainside nest and traveling the world like he did. This is where Froggy sees an in, and tells Betty that her new guest Charlie is actually a bonafide foreigner who can’t speak a word of English. Betty is immediately excited by the prospect, so much so that Froggy barely gets the chance to explain the lie to Charlie before she is bearing down on him, speaking slowly and way too loud.

Charlie has second thoughts about this line of action as Froggy leaves, wondering if he will just tell Betty the truth. This is when we meet two other guests at the bed and breakfast, the yet-to-be married preacher David (Alan Foster) and his fiancée Catherine (Sarah Willingham). The two, unaware of Charlie in the corner, begin a very intimate conversation. Catherine is pregnant, which is not good news for these progenitors, who still have many months until their wedding. While considering the finer points of handling such a situation, Catherine notices Charlie and understandably goes ballistic.

click to enlarge The Santa Maria Civic Theatre offers hilarity in 'The Foreigner'
PHOTO COURTESY OF PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD
SUPER ENSEMBLE: The Santa Maria Civic Theatre delivers a powerfully funny performance of Larry Shue’s 'The Foreigner.'

This is when poor Charlie is in it for good. Betty calms Catherine with the news that Charlie can’t understand what she’s saying. This is also when we meet Owen (Jim Dahmen), preacher David’s friend with a caustic personality and unsavory dental hygiene. The two share yet another private conversation that Charlie overhears and reveal more than a little dubious plotting.

The two are after Catherine’s family money, which is to be shared with Catherine’s brother Ellard (Jim Moonier), who—Charlie learns—is being systematically discredited by David. Ellard is a tad slow, though not entirely obtuse, and his perceived lack of intellect is keeping Catherine from sharing the inheritance with him. Charlie begins befriending Ellard immediately and offers all the chances he can to help the innocent and good-hearted young man appear intellectually endowed.

Each of these characters is densely packed with personality, and their chemistry is often bombastic. Several Santa Maria Civic Theatre veterans and newcomers balance this runaway train with command. Buchanan and Moonier are both returning to the stage after long hiatuses, but both should be proud of the professional-level performance they offered. Mahr truly owns Charlie and makes his character-playing-a-character predicament believable, with some fun homage to Borat. Dahmen also embraces the backwoods evil of Owen, whose villainy looms larger as the story progresses.

The Santa Maria Civic Theatre offers hilarity in 'The Foreigner'
CATCH THE SHOW: The Santa Maria Civic Theatre presents its production of 'The Foreigner' showing through Dec. 14 on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. at the Santa Maria Civic Theatre, 1660 N. McClelland, Santa Maria. Cost is $15, $13 for active military, $10 for students. More info: 922-4442, [email protected], and smct.org.

The play is preceded and punctuated by an original score by local musician David M. Donati, whose cheerfully simple song “Charlie” begins each act of the play. Donati’s efforts include more than just a catchy song, and are a true score for certain key points in the action. Synthesizers laced with orchestral sounds become a character that supplements the play and production wonderfully.

The Santa Maria Civic Theatre’s production of The Foreigner is also a good example of how much can be done with a single, unchanging space. The set design—though static—offers a dynamic setting for the actors to move about and is also punctuated by the nimble lighting and sound work of David Bathe. The sum of all these parts makes for a truly remarkable experience, the balance of which would be challenging for any director. Director Lynda Mondragon has been involved with the theater since 1998, and certainly knows everything the little theater of Broadway is capable of, and thus brings it to a higher level.

 

Arts Editor Joe Payne might have been laughing a little too loud. Contact him at [email protected].

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