Two Planks Theater Company will hold audiitons for Larry Shue’s comic play.
The Foreigner is the winner of two Obie Awards and two Outer Critics Circle Awards as Best New American Play as well as Best Off-Broadway Production. An inspired comic romp, equal in inventive hilarity to the author’s classic comedy The Nerd, the play enjoyed a sold-out premiere in Milwaukee before moving on to a long run Off-Broadway. Based on what the NY Post describes as a “devilishly clever idea,” the play demonstrates what can happen when a group of devious characters must deal with a stranger who (they think) knows no English. “Something funny is going on in Milwaukee—to the delight of audiences at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.” —Variety. “I laughed start to finish at one comic surprise after another.” —The New Yorker. “…a constant invitation to relax and laugh at the foolishness of life…” —Village Voice. “Shue’s comedy is positively antic, yet pleasantly seasoned with a few dashes of sentimentality…He has raided comedy’s storehouse…” —Bergen Record.
Plot Synopsis-
A fishing lodge in rural Georgia provides a needed holiday for Charlie, a painfully shy British gentleman. However, his plan for solitude turns hilariously awry when his friend introduces him as an exotic foreigner who doesn’t understand any English. Soon, Charlie is in over his head as he unwittingly becomes the focal point of Southern hospitality and discovers mysterious schemes with hysterical and unexpected results.
Auditions will be held on Saturday, February 27th from 2-5PM and Sunday, February 28th from 1-3 PM at Monroe Dance Academy, 838 Main Street, Monroe, CT. Callbacks will be held from 3-5PM on Sunday, February 28th, directly after the preliminary round of auditions. All roles are open. Actors must be familiar with the script. Audition sides are available online by going to twoplankstheater.org. Full script is available as a download online.
ALL AUDITIONS BY APPOINTMENT. Please email a headshot and resume to susan.halliwell4@gmail.com, or we can be reached by phone at 203- 246-5991 or at 203-613-7454.
Performance dates: May 13, 14, 15, 20,21,22. Friday and Saturday performances at 8PM, Sunday matinees at 5PM. All performances are held at 515 Cutlers Farm Road in Monroe.
For rehearsal schedule information, information on Two Planks Theater Company and our upcoming productions, please go to our website– twoplankstheater.org
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CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
Froggy Lesueur: 40’s – A British military demolitions expert visiting the nearby Army base. Froggy is Charlie’s caring friend and devises the scheme that protects Charlie from having to interact with the other guests at the lodge. To quote the script, Froggy “seems well-fed, flushed with the spirit of adventure, and right at home”. —Strong Cockney accent.
Charlie Baker: – 40’s – A science-fiction copy editor for a book publishing house, Charlie is in his late forties, British, and is a pathologically shy man who has a very unfaithful wife, no personality that he can think of, and a need for peace and quiet. Again, to quote the script: “The other, standing in his forlorn trenchcoat, seems quietly, somehow permanently, lost.” —Standard British accent.
Betty Meeks: late 60’s – 70’s – The proprietor of a Georgia fishing lodge, Betty is a long-time friend of Froggy’s. She is pleasant, wise in some ways, naïve in others. She is a good-hearted, generous, “down-home” person. She is a widow and is struggling to hold things together, although you would never know it from her outgoing, enthusiastic demeanor.— Strong Southern accent.
Reverend David Marshall Lee: Late 20’s- -30’s – from the script: “… a friendly, open face. David, we see, is neither the stereotypically pallid, remote young divinity student, nor the hearty, backslapping evangelist. He seems rather to be a regular fella— humorous, and open, and, it would appear, a good young man to have on our side.” He is not what he seems, however, and is clearly the brains behind the plot to get control of Betty Meeks’s fishing lodge and Catherine Simms’ fortune. Mild Southern accent.
Catherine Simms: Mid – late 20’s. The very pregnant and potentially rich fiancée of the Reverend Lee, she can be a formidable force and occasionally almost too much for the good reverend to handle. She has a ready wit and a sharp tongue. She badly needs someone to talk to, and, since Charlie doesn’t bother giving advice, he suits her needs perfectly. Catherine is Ellard’s sister.— Moderate Southern accent.
Ellard Simms: late teens – early 20’s – Catherine’s brother, Ellard, is an agreeable young man who is a bit slow-witted but may not be as dull as he seems. He is due to inherit a share of the Simms family fortune, unless the Reverend Lee can convince Catherine that Ellard is too stupid to manage money, or anything else, on his own. Ellard befriends Charlie and even decides to teach him to speak English.— Southern accent.
Owen Musser: 40’s – 50’s– The Tilghman County property inspector. Smarmy, mean and nasty. From the script: “Owen is a two-tattoo man: one of them, he may have gotten while drunk or on a dare; two of them means he went back for more. Beware of a two-tattoo man.” Owen and the Reverend Lee are cooking up a plot to condemn Betty’s lodge so that it can be bought for their own purposes: Building a headquarters for the Klu Klux Klan. Strong Southern accent.