In its 85th season, Long Beach Playhouse brings Larry Shue’s incredibly popular “The Foreigner” to its Mainstage, and theatergoers are loving every minute of this laugh-out-loud, backwoods comedy.
Shy and mild mannered Brit Charlie Baker (Greg Barnett), who has his considerable share of hang-ups and disappointments, gets dropped off at Betty’s lodge by his good buddy, Army Staff Sergeant Froggy LeSueur (Mitchell Nunn). Because Charlie is terrified of having to make small talk with the locals, Froggy decides to tell Betty (Phyllis M. Nofts) that Charlie is indeed a “foreigner” who doesn’t know a word of English.
Charlie desperately hopes that he will be left alone by Betty and the parade of meandering folks who wander in and out of the lodge, but Charlie winds up transforming from being a silly joke to becoming a well-respected hero. Barnett swerves right on past a cartoonish characterization of Charlie, and moves right into portraying him as a sensitive character with layers that evenly unfold as he evolves into a confident man.
“The Foreigner,” Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach. Phone: (562) 494-1014.
Website: www.lbplayhouse.org.
Runs through Oct. 26.
