Cameo Theatre offers intrigue and slapstick in 'The Foreigner'

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Cameo Theatre hopes to have the crowd roaring with this week's production of Larry Shue's "The Foreigner," a play of mistaken identities, intrigue and slapstick.

"If the audience laughs at them as much as we've laughed at each other, it should be a great success," director Charlene Mosby said.

Performances will be 7 p.m. Nov. 21 and 22 and 2 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Eldorado Elementary School.

"The Foreigner" is set in a fishing lodge in rural Georgia. Jim Spivey plays as the foreigner who is from London and is hoping to gather information on characters in the play under the ruse he cannot speak English.

Certain characters take on the role of teacher and reveal much about themselves safe in the knowledge the foreigner cannot understand them.

The play premiered at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in 1982 and won two Obies and two Outer Critics Circle Awards in 1984.

Most of Shue's theatrical work is derived from mistaken identities, adding a level of crowd-pleasing anxiety to a performance, Cameo player Linda Phelps said.

Shue died in a plane crash in 1985 at the age of 39. His two well-known shows "The Foreigner" and "The Nerd" remained hits after his death, Phelps said.

Cameo Theatre's spring production, "The Miracle Worker," was a huge success, Phelps said. Making drama available to children is one of the main goals of Cameo, and that production brought the total to 86 children that have been cast since 2004.

One of the other goals of Cameo was to establish a scholarship fund for a drama student at Southeastern Illinois College and the first scholarship was awarded this year to Robert Scates. Cameo has also donated to several community charities, Phelps said.

-- DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.

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