Lakewood Theatre Co Holds Auditions For THE FOREIGNER 6/5, 6/6

Lakewood Theatre Company will be having open auditions on SATURDAY, JUNE 5 and SUNDAY, JUNE 6 for the Larry Shue comedy, The Foreigner, directed by Joe Theissen. Call 503-635-3901 to reserve an audition slot.

The director is seeking: 4 men, ages 30-50s; 1 young man, age late teens-30; 1 woman age, 20-40; and 1 woman, age 50s.

Audition Location: Lakewood Theatre Company at Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State Street in Lake Oswego.

Materials Needed: Actors are requested to prepare a 1-2 minute contemporary comic monologue appropriate to the style of the show. Be prepared to read from the script if asked. Please bring a resume and an 8X10 glossy photo and a calendar to list all conflicts.

Performance Schedule: November 5 - December 12, 2010 (Thurs-Sat at 7:30 PM, Sundays at 7:00 PM and some Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM). Lakewood Theatre Company features an intimate 220-seat theatre located at Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State Street in Lake Oswego.

About the Play: Shy Charlie Baker is persuaded by his buddy Froggy LaSueur to accompany him on a vacation. But after they arrive at the rural fishing lodge, Charlie just wants to be left alone. Froggy convinces Charlie to pretend to be a foreigner who doesn't understand English. The plan backfires when other vacationers open up to this exotic "foreigner" and share their secrets and schemes. Compelled to do the right thing, he tries to help the potential victims involved - with bizarre results. Show Sponsor: The Swinford Family.

Additional Information:
The Foreigner
Parts Available:
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.

Call 503-635-3901 to schedule an appointment time.

About Lakewood Theatre Company

58 Years of Live Theatre: Founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1952, Lakewood Theatre Company is a semi-professional theatre dedicated to the study and presentation of drama in all its forms; the training and development of actors; and the creation, maintenance and operation of a theatre in which to present plays and other forms of entertainment. Lakewood Theatre Company is the oldest continually operated, not-for-profit theatre company in the Portland Metropolitan area. It annually provides theatre artists the opportunity to learn and display their craft and attracts more than 40,000 people to its shows.

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