Feels Like The First Time...
Warren's 2nd Story Theatre has been around for many years and those who have inhabited this area for some time have watched Ed Shea and Co. move from location to location. The current address has been home for long enough to feel like it's always been there...except if you haven't been there. Many Providence residents felt that once they said goodbye, that 2nd Story had become one of those "other" theaters south of DownCity (regardless of the compass) and would simply have to make due with the locals and friends of the cast.
One glance at the past few years of seasons tells a tale of solid work and a growing establishment of performance and Arts education, but still there are potential crowds who know little of its existence beyond the company that "used to do the Short Attention Span Theater thing..." Shea and co-founder Pat Hegnauer are known more for themselves than 2nd Story and there's a nagging feeling that it should not be the case. So, when More Teeth became established back in the wild wooly days of June, we knew that a visit to Warren was long overdue if we were to truly get a grip on the quality theater all over this state. We contacted them several times asking for permission to review and the response was pure silence. Contacting 2nd Story is a stark, enigmatic experience...the website gives up only so much and no more. Not feeling welcome, we missed out on 'The Underpants' and 'Belle of Amherst' and 'Christopher Bean'...all good shows, from what we hear.
So, More Teeth is faced with a choice: ignore 2nd Story right back or buy our own ticket as a spectator and review their upcoming production of 'The Foreigner'. It seems to us that we saw a production of 'Foreigner' done by 2nd Story ages and ages ago in Providence. Could be wrong...could have been Brown. But, the serendipidity feels right and we're going in...
Jukebox Hero?
Larry Shue, author of 'The Foreigner', didnt live long enough to see what an enduring success his work would become. Like many brilliant artists, he was cut down too early and we're left to admire their work posthumously. 'The Foreigner' is one of those staples of contemporary theater that is almost Director-proof. The language is precise and brilliant without appearing over-crafted. The archetypes are recognizable without being cliché and, in the end, it's just damn funny. And, as with all artists cut short too early, one wonders if Shue's further work would have continued to deliver in the same vein. Unlike rock stars, playwrights and authors tend to mellow nicely with age. And while Shue was killed at a relatively young age (39), he was not as young as, say, Buddy Holly, who left a small vein of music that is not tainted with a lesser, late-career catalog (insert over-50 rock star here). So we'll never be able to unfavorably compare his later works with what he produced in the early 80's the way we can say Gurney lost his touch after 'Love Letters'.
'The Foreigner' shares a formula with its predecessor, 'The Nerd'. Which is why More Teeth was convinced we saw this play back in 1989 by 2nd Story (or Brown...or whoever). We actually saw 'The Nerd' instead and the similarities are striking, but no less funny. Mistaken identity is one of the oldest gags going and Shakespeare would have been a moderately successful sonnet writer without it. Dramatic irony is best when served hot and funny and Shue seemed to have had no compunction about making it the main course.
Which brings us to the East Bay and downtown Warren to visit 2nd Story Theatre for the first time (at some point, More Teeth will feature a comparison of all the companies in RI using "-er" vs. "-re" and what that actually means, if anything). After hunting for a parking spot (don't be fooled by the adjacent lot, which warns off anyone thinking theyre going to use it for theater parking), More Teeth enters and is greeted by the smell of fresh popcorn. Up the red-carpeted stairs and the impression is direct and overwhelming. 2nd Story is a magnificent playing space that most RI theaters would sacrifice half their Board of Governors to obtain. Shea and Hegnauer obviously knew what they wanted when they started and the theater is a perfect blend of professionalism and homespun local flavor. What they've spent in building the space is saved on programs. While even the smallest community group seems to be printing Trinty Rep-style books as programs these days, 2nd Story hands us a half-page flyer with all the vitals. No pretentious actor bios or Director's notes and instead of program ads, it seems that 2nd Story raises cash by having patrons buy seats (canvas director chairs) with their names on them, which gives you the awkward feeling of taking someones reservation, though we're told to sit anywhere we like. The setting is in the round and the risers are thoughtfully built high enough to ensure no obstructed view of Trevor Elliot's spare but well crafted set. So, before we've even see the show, we're already heartily impressed with the look, feel and overall atmosphere.
Any harbored thoughts of being anything less than objective and letting them know that we didn't like being ignored are gone by fifteen minutes past eight. John Connery's preshow mix lets us know that we're in for a deep south, rednecked good ol' time. (and one seemingly occurring somewhere in the early-to-mid-seventies or so based on the song choices). More Teeth played jukebox fortune teller leading up to the shows start, waiting to see if Connery would forget "Ode To Billie Joe" or "Georgia On My Mind"...he didn't. We're still torn on the favored concept of the in-person preshow announcement by a Director or some other notable, but, regardless, this night we're reminded that 'Foreigner' is still in previews and we are to expect the unexpected. Ed Shea tosses the idea over his shoulder as he leaves, as if saying, "whatever...this is going to be great no matter what so sit back and enjoy." And...he's right.
As always is the case early in any run (or even early in every performance), British accents take a little time for American actors and audiences to settle into, but Tom Oakes and Dante Sciarra quickly overcome as the grizzled but sentimental Staff Sergeant "Froggy" LeSueur and the pivotal accidental tourist Charlie Baker, respectively. Sciarra plays off Charlie as so meek, so diffident and so downright spineless, that one wonders if Froggy's friendship is based on a lost bet or blackmail. But, of course, Shue has crafted matters to ensure that Charlie will become the Alpha in the end and Sciarra rides that arc smoothly and with such physical confidence and comic timing that we're cheering each turn as a surprise even though we knew it was coming. The obvious cheers come during Charlie's brilliant forced storytelling with its faux-Slavic tour-de-force, but the asides and small moments are gems as well. Watch him closely, for there are dozens of opportunities for Sciarra to quietly make us laugh and whether through directorial choices or his own whim, it's Sciarra's stage to own.
Elizabeth Hallenbeck's Betty, owner of the lodge where all takes place, is a nonstop barrage of clueless lovability. Once again, accents differ among the Americans in the cast, but Southern is Southern is Southern and only someone bored with the proceedings would even take time to notice. The actual script of 'Foreigner' is phonetically designed to carry most actors through these roles and the accent features in a large portion of Shue's familiar reverse stereotypes. When the questionably intelligent Ellard delivers his idiot-savant language lessons to a native speaker of the King's English, we're laughing at both the dumb American and the non-English speaker's tendency to latch onto each syllable. Dillon Medina at first appears too old to play the part with the ubiquitous striped t-shirt denoting youth that costume designers are so fond of. But he quickly inhabits Ellard and by show's end, that first glimpse of maturity is a plus as he finds his identity and becomes the man of the house.
Ellard is the lynchpin of an inheritance that may or may not come to him via the good graces of his older sister, Catherine. Erin Olson seems at first miscast as the fallen debutante, but her performance ultimately shines as Catherine journeys into her sense of self via her budding relationship with Charlie. That self-discovery is a central theme of the play and the two villains of the piece, Catherine's scheming fiancé, the Rev. David and his partner in militant bigotry,Owen, have their true characters discovered for them by play's end. Ara Bohigian's David also seems slightly off and his underlying viciousness jumps out only as scripted with nowhere near the subtlety shown by Sciarra, Medina or Olsen. However he and Joe Henderson are perfectly suitable bad guys (Henderson channeling Larry the Cable Guy's less sophisticated, naturally inbred cousin) and in the end, we cheer their comeuppance heartily.
'The Foreigner' is a funny show delivered by a fantastic ensemble and should be seen. Not only because this production can only get better (some line lapses were still present when More Teeth went, but covered deftly by the cast), but because 2nd Story is a theater that deserves to be attended. Not that they have trouble in that regard-tickets sell well there and the move from Providence does not seem to have hurt attendance at all. It's a comfortable, elegant place with a bar attached in a quirky, interesting part of town. Like Charlie Baker, More Teeth was perfectly happy to be someone else for the evening...not a reviewer or theater critic, but someone with an interesting life who was welcome at the thoroughly entertaining and deeply satisfying 2nd Story Theater. And, like Charlie...maybe we'll stay.
'The Foreigner' runs at 2nd Story Theatre through September 5th. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling the box office at 401.247.4200. (No online ticket purchases). Theater is located at 28 Market Street in Warren, RI. Directions can be found on the website - www.2ndstorytheatre.com . Arrive early to park and grab a drink and a bite at the adjoining Café.