Lakewood Theatre Company
Auditions:
The Foreigner
Auditions
will be by appointment on Saturday, June 5 & Sunday, June 6, 2010. Call 503-635-3901 beginning May 18th to sign up for a time slot. Callbacks, if needed, will be held by invitation Monday, June 7th.
Location: Lakewood Theatre Company 368 S. State Street, Lake Oswego, OR 97034.
The Foreigner is directed by Joe Theissen.
AUDITION REQUIREMENTS:- Please bring a current headshot & resume.
- Prepare a 1-2 minute contemporary comic monologue appropriate to the style of the show. (Monologue selection is important, and will be considered heavily).
- Be prepared to read from the script if asked - sides will be provided.
- Bring your calendar and be prepared to list all conflicts. Conflicts not listed at time of audition may not be honored. All roles receive a stipend.
IMPORTANT DATES:
- The Foreigner opens November 5, 2010 and continues through December 12, 2010. Performances are Thurs-Sat at 7:30 PM, Sundays at 7:00 PM and some Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM. Rehearsals begin October 2, 2010. Rehearsals will be Mondays-Wednesdays, 6:00-10pm, Saturdays 12-4pm & Sundays TBA. Not everyone will be called for every rehearsal.
- Tech rehearsals: November 1-3.
- Final Dress: November 4
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ABOUT THE PLAY
The Foreigner by Larry Shue
In a rural fishing lodge in Georgia, Froggy LeSueur, a British demolitions expert who sometimes runs training sessions at a nearby military installation, is trying to put his friend, Charlie Baker at ease. Charlie, a proofreader whose wife finds him boring, has come along for a much needed getaway. The problem is he is pathologically shy and is terrified at the prospect of having to converse with strangers at the lodge for three days.
Froggy must leave to tend to his military responsibilities, so, in an attempt to help his shy friend, he tells Betty, the owner of the lodge, that Charlie is from an exotic foreign country and neither speaks nor understands English.
Thus, conversations at the lodge carry on around Charlie much as if he weren't there at all, since it is assumed he can't understand them anyway. For example, Catherine Simms informs her fiancé, the reverend David Marshall Lee, that he isn't as sterile as he said he was and that she's pregnant.
Owen Musser, county property inspector who has been threatening to condemn the lodge, wants a private conversation with the Reverend David. In the process, Charlie overhears a plot to undermine the value of the lodge through condemnation so that David can buy it at a bargain price. In addition, Ellard Simms, Catherine's slow-witted brother, appears on the scene, and it becomes apparent that David is trying to make him appear to be an idiot so that he can't inherit his half of the family money.
Through little effort on his part, Charlie endears himself to almost everyone by being a good listener (much better than they know) as they relate their problems to him. He doesn't judge, nor does he give advice. So, Ellard tries his hand at teaching Charlie to speak English. Maybe poor Ellard isn't so stupid after all, as Charlie makes him seem to be a natural teacher.
David and Owen soon appear with a box of ledgers, records and even dynamite, apparently salvaged from a fire of some sort. Owen's van contains weapons and uniforms enough to reunite the "Georgia Empire."
Froggy returns and is surprised at how well his shy friend is doing. Charlie entertains by relating a story in a strange, unintelligible dialect. Froggy agrees to return the next day, and, in private, Charlie reveals that he is having a wonderful time and may even be acquiring a personality.
Owen returns and Charlie has some fun tormenting him. David shows up with his new van, and Charlie demonstrates how well Ellard has taught him in just two days. Catherine agrees that Ellard is indeed smart enough to receive his part of the inheritance, much to the dismay of David, who decides a hasty marriage to Catherine might be in his best interest after all.
Charlie agrees to teach a bit of his "native tongue," and has a good deal of fun at Owen and David's expense. Owen, unable to stand any further torment, rages that the Klan will soon be coming to purge the land of foreigners. As Act One concludes, the power has been cut off and the lodge is in virtual isolation and darkness as everyone turns to Charlie for a solution.
As promised, the Klan appears, torches blazing. Through a series of tricks involving Ellard, a trap door and a croquet mallet, the Klan is vanquished and David is exposed for what he really is.
Froggy returns, ready for the "vacation" and Charlie's masquerade to end. By mutual agreement, Charlie decides to stay on with his friends at the lodge as "The Foreigner" in order to teach and be taught.______________________________________________________________________
Role Breakdowns
All roles are open and all receive remuneration:
- Charlie Baker - (30s-50s) Charlie is the "foreigner" of the play's title, an Englishman in his late- forties who comes to Georgia for a weekend visit with his friend, Staff Sergeant Froggy LeSueur. Initially, Charlie is extremely shy, dull, and morose as he worries about the apparently imminent death of his philandering wife. A proofreader for an English science fiction magazine, Charlie considers himself "boring" and wonders what it would be like to have a vibrant personality. At the beginning of the play, Charlie is so sad and shy that he doesn't want to speak to anyone.When Froggy introduces him as a "foreigner" who can't speak or understand English, however, Charlie gradually discovers his hidden potential. Overhearing the plot of the Reverend David and Owen Musser to buy Betty's lodge and turn it into a meeting place for the Ku Klux Klan, Charlie ultimately leads Betty, Catherine, and Ellard in a successful fight against these villains. In helping Betty thwart David and Owen's machinations, Charlie discovers leadership skills, love, and the vibrant personality he has always craved.
- Reverend David Marshall Lee - (30s-50s) The Reverend David Marshall Lee is the fiance of Catherine and one of the main villains, along with Owen, in the play. Pretending to be concerned about Betty and her struggling business, David secretly attempts to gain control of her lodge so he can turn it into the Tilghman County headquarters for the Ku Klux Klan. David appears to be friendly, sincere, genuinely decent, kind, and patient, and he is quite canny in carrying out his devious plot. In Act II, however, Charlie's clever taunts subtly reveal David's basic meanness.
- Staff Sergeant Froggy Lesueur - (30s-50s) Froggy is the ebullient demolition expert from the British Army who brings his friend, Charlie Baker, to Georgia for a three-day weekend. In his annual visits to the United States, Froggy has become good friends with Betty Meeks and is genuinely concerned about her welfare. When Charlie pleads for solitude during his brief stay, Froggy is caught between his loyalties to both Betty and Charlie; he hatches the plan to pass Charlie off as a "foreigner." Froggy's plan is for Betty to be charmed by the exotic visitor while Charlie gets his needed peace and quiet. In his late- forties, Froggy speaks in a Cockney dialect, is dressed in his army fatigues, and is extremely cheerful.
- Betty Meeks - (50s or older) A widow, Betty Meeks is the owner and operator of the fishing lodge and resort in which the play takes place. Betty has always dreamed of traveling outside of Georgia and is quite thrilled with the prospect of having a "real, live foreigner" as her guest. Since the death of her husband, Betty has been struggling to keep her resort business alive, unaware of David and Owen's underhanded plot to gain control of it. Betty speaks with a strong Georgia accent. She talks to Charlie, "the foreigner," as if he were deaf, as if speaking louder and slower will facilitate Charlie's understanding.
- Owen Musser - (30s-60s) The racist Owen Musser is a local Georgia man who serves as the henchman for the main villain, the Reverend David Lee. After being named the property inspector for Tilghman County, Georgia, Owen has the authority to condemn Betty's fishing lodge as structurally unsafe, which would force Betty to sell and enable David Lee to purchase the lodge with the money he gains from marrying Catherine. To call Owen "crude" is to indulge in understatement: he is mean-spirited, ignorant, volatile, and extremely prejudiced against anyone who doesn't fit his ideal of "Christian, white America."
- Catherine Simms - (20s-40s) Catherine is staying with Betty at the lodge. She is engaged to the Reverend David Lee, unaware of his true, villainous character. A former debutante and the heiress of a huge fortune, Catherine is bored with life, restless, and unsure of what she wants. When she discovers in Charlie a man who is genuinely kind and really enjoys listening, she believes she has found her ideal romantic mate. Catherine is small in stature and pretty.
- Ellard Simms - (Teens-early 30s) Ellard is Catherine's younger brother and an extremely insecure young man who is considered by others to be mentally defective. Shue describes him as "a lumpy, overgrown, backward youth, who spends much of his time kneading something tiny and invisible in front of his chest." Catherine has promised to give Ellard half of their very large inheritance if he shows any signs of mental and social competence. The villainous Reverend David Lee conspires to make Ellard appear stupid in order to maintain control over all of Catherine's money, but during the course of the play Ellard proves to have both moderate intelligence and considerable courage.
To schedule an audition call: (503) 635-3901 beginning May 18th. Auditions are Saturday, June 5 & Sunday, June 6, 2010 by appointment. Callbacks,
if needed, will be held by invitation Monday, June 7.
