Review: 'The Foreigner' by Phoenix Stage Company

Oakville, CT - Phoenix Stage Company’s current production of ‘The Foreigner’ by Larry Shue runs through March 31 at the Clockwork Repertory in Oakville, CT. The seven cast members are directed by Donna Storms and the stage manager is Tim Phillips. The members of this ensemble cast are all very funny individually and working together they had the audience laughing throughout.

This two-act play is not what one might expect, given its title and logo. The scene is a fishing lodge resort in rural Georgia often visited by “Froggy” LeSeuer, a British demolition expert who occasionally runs training sessions at the nearby army base. This visit “Froggy” has brought along a friend, a shy man named Charlie who is overcome with fear at the thought of making conversation with strangers. So before he leave the lodge, the military man, tells everyone staying there that Charlie is from an exotic foreign country and speaks no English. Things get interesting as Charlie (played magnificently by Chuck Stango) overhears more than he should— including the evil plans of a two-faced minister and his redneck associate, the fact that the minister’s fiancée is pregnant, and much more. Things get suspenseful in the second act after the characters have been established in the first. The character of Charlie fuels the nonstop hilarity of the play and sets up the wildly funny climax in which things go uproariously awry for the “bad guys” who are part of the KKK (who knew?) and the “good guys” emerge triumphant.

Founding member and executive director of the PSC Ed Bassett brought a whole lot to the role of "Froggy" LeSeuer. A non-stop English accent, an impressive soldier’s uniform, superb comic timing with his partner in deception Charlie; everything came together to nail this fun role. It was a treat to watch his face as he hatched the plot to relieve Charlie of having to talk during his stay.

Carol Grant, who I remembered from her performances at Arts at Angeloria’s, gave a believable performance as the elderly Betty Meeks in her PSC debut, despite not really being old enough to be elderly. Dr. Grant is a chiropractic physician in Milldale, CT. Gary L. Kline brought a smooth charm to the role of Reverend David Marshall Lee that worked well. Tori Richnavsky can do it all and here she was the lovely young heiress Catherine Simms with a secret.

Jonathan Ross was quite scary at times as the bigot Owen Musser in his fourth visit to ‘The Foreigner.’ I was very impressed with how convincingly Ryan Holub (in his PSC debut) stepped into the role of Catherine’s kid brother Ellard; he worked so well with Ms. Richnavsky and did well with the physical comedy. Mr. Holub is a student from Beacon Falls that is getting back into the CT community theatre scene and is a young man to watch.

Chuck Stango knocked it out of the park as Charlie Baker in his fourth role at Phoenix Stage Company. Even when he had no lines, he made us laugh with a look. When he began speaking in his pretend “foreign” language, we laughed harder. His monologue in the second act deserved the applause it got. And those dance moves...

Ms. Storms has now directed a slew of shows at the Phoenix and this one was one of her best. Ed Bassett was in charge of the costume design as he usually is and he also designed the detailed set that screamed rural fishing lodge, Lori Richnavsky took care of the props, except for the prop detonator, which was designed and constructed by John Poulin. Mr. Bassett also took care of sound matters and Al Hathway did the good lighting design.

Remaining performances are Friday, Mar 30, 2018 | 8PM and Saturday, Mar 31, 2018 | 8PM
Coming up at the PSC will be the Give Local Campaign on April 24. There will be a free event at 7:30pm with the improv group Abridged for some adult comedy and online fundraising. The next production will be ‘Moon Over Buffalo’ directed by Lori Poulin.

Listen to one of Johnny O's final interviews on WZBG's Backstage with Johnny O with Tori Richnavsky and Chuck Stango by clicking below.

Cast members Chuck Stango and Tori Richnavsky are in-studio to talk about the upcoming Phoenix Stage production of Larry Shue's comedic play, The Foreigner. Music selections are a salute to the many musical roles played by guest, Chuck Stango. They include The Music Man, Young Frankenstein, Chicago, and more.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues and she posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theater Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417