The first act of Backstage’s “The Foreigner” isn’t always pretty.
Then I stepped outside into the lingering remnants of Breckenridge daylight, the sun hiding behind Peak 8 shooting orange and yellow rays across a rumbling purple sky, bathing Ridge Street in surreal, vivid splendor.
Instantly it became about the most beautiful night of theater I could remember.
Things improved some in the second act, though in the group’s 32 years of making unforgettable moments on stage, it’s not likely this miscast staging of Larry Shue’s classic caustic farce will be long remembered.
Still, summer community theater in mountain towns is its own risky reward. While the theater can be a wild card, the settings are guaranteed spectacular. A performance or two always surprise you – in a good way. But because these troupes draw from a smaller fixed pool, some competent actors inevitably find themselves in roles they have no business playing.
“The Foreigner” is the 1984 tale of a painfully shy Brit deposited at a rural Georgia fishing lodge by a soldier pal. Froggy passes Charlie off as a foreigner so he won’t have to interact with strangers. Of course, because these rednecks believe Charlie can’t understand them, they all soon are confessing to him their deepest longings – or criminal intentions.
The surprises include Andy Anderson, who is at his best as the eccentric Froggy, and Skip Wee in a breakout performance as Ellard, the lovable simpleton who “teaches” Charlie to speak English – in two days. Joseph Norton, known for his risk-taking roles at Denver’s LIDA Project, is a stabilizing force as a dastardly fake minister.
But while Mark Mercer is a proven actor, he makes for a cripplingly awkward Charlie, the role played by Matthew Broderick in the 2004 New York revival. The role requires equal parts Italian clown, playful mime and confident physical comedian, a precise actor who wastes not a single gesture, who constantly communicates while rarely speaking. Director Alex Miller seems to have hired him, then abandoned him.
Because the play never quite hits its comic heights, things don’t resonate as deeply as they should when we take a serious turn into racial violence.
Still, there is much to look forward to from Backstage artistic director Chris Willard – Pam Clifton starring in “The Search for Intelligent Life …” (July 20), John Ashton helming “Dearly Departed” and Norton staging Trey Parker’s Alfred Packer romp, “Cannibal, the Musical.” Those are risks worth taking.
“The Foreigner” | ** RATING
COMEDY|Backstage Theatre, 121 S. Ridge St., Breckenridge|Directed by Alex Miller|Starring Mark Mercer and Mari Geasair|THROUGH AUG. 27|7:30 p.m. July 13-16, 27-30, Aug. 10-13, 24-27|2 hours, 10 minutes|$8-$15| 970-453-0199, backstagetheatre.org
