College of DuPage Theatre Department Presents The Foreigner By Larry Shue Directed by Connie Canaday Howard The Department sincerely thanks the Library for research support for classes studying the script and production, as well as for the cast, director and production team, working on the project. Support is made possible by a generous gift from the College of DuPage Foundation s Dr. Donald and Helen (Gum) Westlake Fund for Student Productions. Place: Betty Meeks Fishing Lodge Resort, Tilghman County, Georgia, U.S.A Time: The Recent Past (1983)
Characters S/Sgt. Froggy LeSueur Charlie Baker Betty Meeks Rev. David Marshall Lee Catherine Simms Owen Musser Ellard Simms Intermission: There will be one fifteen minute intermission Director s Note If only I could tell you what an adventure I ve been having We re making each other complete, and alive, and oh, I can t explain. Charlie, The Foreigner The Foreigner is full of heart. Written by Larry Shue, from Glen Ellyn, it is truly an ensemble piece, which is a trademark for Shue s writing. We empathize with most of the characters, and have strong emotional reactions to the others. The script has us rooting for the characters, and celebrating their differences. The Foreigner earned two Obie Awards and two Outer Critics Circle as Best New American Play and Best Off-Broadway Production, and is a frequently produced script nationally and internationally. Ultimately, the play seems to say we are all foreigners, looking for a place to fit, to contribute, and to flourish. CCH
Larry Shue: A Biography Source:https://festivalstage.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/larry-shue-a-biography/ Posted on October 29, 2010 Quoted from: The Foreigner: Author Biography. Drama for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale, 1998. enotes.com. January 2006. 29 October 2010. Larry Shue s promising career as a comic playwright was cut short by his untimely death in a plane crash at the age of thirty-nine. Possessed of considerable technical skill, Shue had yet to prove that his stage comedy could rise above its commercial value and express a sophisticated comic vision. Born July 23, 1946, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Shue grew up in Kansas and Illinois, displaying an early interest in theatre; as a ten-year-old, he would create plays in his family s garage and charge a penny for admission. After participating in high school dramatics, Shue attended Illinois Wesleyan University and graduated with a B.F.A. in theatre in 1968. As an undergraduate, Shue wrote two plays produced at Illinois Wesleyan, but he began his professional theatrical life as an actor. After serving in the entertainment division of the United States Army from 1969 to 1972, Shue continued his acting career with the Harlequin Dinner Theatres in both Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia, winning two acting awards in Atlanta in 1977. As an actor, Shue joined the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1977. Two years later his one-act play, Grandma Duck Is Dead (1979), launched his mature playwrighting career. Shue was named Playwright in Residence for Milwaukee Rep in 1979 and his mature, full length plays soon followed, including the two works for which he is best known The Nerd (1981) and The Foreigner (1983) as well as his more serious play, Wenceslas Square (1984). Shue s acting career also included a stint with the Berkeley Repertory company in California, some brief appearances in films, and work on the well-known television soap opera One Life to Live. Shue was among fourteen people who died in a commuter plane crash near Weyer s Cave, Virginia, on September 23, 1985. The plane crashed into Hall Mountain, killing everyone aboard, as the flight approached the Shenandoah Valley airport between Staunton and Harrisonburg. At the time of his death, Shue s fortunes were clearly rising. The Nerd had been a phenomenal success in London, The Foreigner was still running in New York, and he had been commissioned by the Disney studio to write a screenplay for the latter play. He was also working on the script for a comedy series for CBS, had been commissioned to write the book for a Broadway musical based on The Honeymooners television series, and he was about to make his Broadway acting debut in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Many feel that had Shue lived longer he might have produced an even more impressive body of drama, both serious and comic. In a Chicago Tribune obituary, Richard Christiansen asserted that, at the time of his death, Shue s career was building to a level of international fame.
Overview of Play Production Source: Source: The Foreigner, Drama for Students. Ed. David Galens. Vol. 7. Gale, 2000., pp. 120-121
Critical Essay on The Foreigner Source: Nienhuis, Terry R.. Essay on The Foreigner. Drama for Students. Ed. David Galens. Vol. 7. Gale, 2000. pp. 122-125.
Historical Context Source: The Foreigner, Drama for Students. Ed. David Galens. Vol. 7. Gale, 2000., pp. 119-120.
Things to watch for in performance: The stage action happens in a very short amount of time three days. How is the passage of time conveyed in design (i.e. lighting, costumes, etc.), and in character action? A well-known philosophy about playing comedy is to never try to be funny, but to always play the reality of the situation. The comedy will follow naturally. Can you note times that you have either felt extreme crisis, or observed someone else in extreme crisis, and then noticed the humor in the situation? Or perhaps there are times you can remember that didn t feel comic, in the moment, but caused you to laugh afterwards? Things to think about after the performance: The Foreigner, a staple in regional theatre, as well as community and high school theatre, has been quoted by the New York Times to be about how people perceive one another, their society and themselves. Choose two characters and describer how they see themselves and each other? Do any attitudes or points of view change in course of the script? How? What should WE feel (what is Shue s point), in the audience, at the end of the play? Observe how the actors establish their relationship with one another. How does each character treat the others, initially? Does this change, and for whom? Shue had said, about writing, in a 1984 interview, The end result is so much fun. I try to write all the parts like I would want to play them. How is this helpful, do you think? Other Analysis Tools : What happens in the very last moments of the play? Certainly, the last few minutes, but, more importantly, the last thirty seconds? In that time, WHAT happens or is said, and what does that say about what the play is about? In a nutshell, how does the playwright drive her point(s) home? And what is the significance of the title? Why did the playwright decide that this was the most quintessential title for her work? Please join us for a pre-show discussion on Thursday, February 28 th, 6:45 7:15 pm in MAC 140, preceding the preview performance. The pre-show discussion will include the director and designers, and will be a discussion of the approach to this production. There will be a post-show discussion following the Friday, March 8 th performance. The post-show will be with director, cast and crew, and will be fielding questions from the audience. The Foreigner, by Larry Shue, plays Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm, in the McAninch Arts Center, Studio Theatre.