Camwood Players opens “The Foreigner”

From left, William Lofthouse plays Charlie, Steve Abrahamsen as Reverend David, Elisa Irvine as Catherine and Nancy Pates-Riches is Betty Meeks in the Camwood Players’ “The Foreigner” by Larry Shue, playing Fridays, Saturdays and some Sundays March 12-27 at the Stillaguamish Grangehall. PHOTO BY SARAH ARNEY | STANWOOD/CAMANO NEWS Exaggeration of human nature is often the core of comedy, and it’s the case in “The Foreigner” by Larry Shue, presented by The Camwood Players this month.

Shue’s contemporary comedy exploits the naïve, the slow-witted and the scavengers of society for a pretty good laugh.

When Froggy LaSeuer, played by Mychal Loving, takes his shy friend on a vacation to his favorite fishing lodge in rural Georgia, he thinks he’s doing Charlie a favor by setting him up as a foreigner who speaks nary a word of English. Played by Camwood novice William Lofthouse, Charlie is very worried about meeting new people.

While the hostess, the lonely old Betty Meeks, played by Camwood veteran Nancy Pates-Riches, is intrigued by the mystery, her other guests are not so kind.

The two bad guys are Camwood veterans.

Reverend David is played by Steve Abrahamsen, who has been acting with the local community theater group for 23 years. The other schemer, Owen Musser is played by Scott Kelley, with Camwood since 1990.

“We’re the ones they love to hate,” Kelley said about his character.

“If we do our jobs right, everyone hates us,” Abrahamsen added.

Not only are they scamming the lodge out from under the poor old lady, they are rude and offensive to the silent visitor, assuming he can’t understand a word they are saying. Rev. David hopes to acquire the lodge by courting Catherine, who is staying at the lodge with her dim-witted brother, Ellard. Catherine is played by Elisa Irvine in her Camwood debut. Brett Stockwell plays Ellard in the charming style of Tom Hanks.

In his feigned ignorance, Charlie witnesses many damaging revelations, including the evil plans of a two-faced minister and his redneck associate.

Directed by Ray Riches, who is also president of the Camwood Players board of directors and a Marysville police officer, the cast is threatened to be careful with all the props from his and his wife Nancy’s (who plays Betty) house.

“Don’t forget, I’m a cop and I carry a gun,” Riches told the cast while installing many decorative objects in the set he’s building on his days off.

Meanwhile, the shy and timid Charlie discovers an adventurous extrovert within himself.

The comedy plays at the Stillaguamish Grange at the Stanwood-Camano fairgrounds, March 12-27, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights, with 2:30 p.m. matinees on Sundays, March 21 and 28. A dinner theater option is offered 7 p.m. before the three Saturday night performances.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $7.50 for children under 12, and $25 for dinner and the show, at Snow Goose Bookstore in Stanwood, or by phone at the Camwood hotline, 360-629- 4494. Advance purchase is required for dinner theater. For information see the Web site at www.camwoodplayers. com.