Tickets are currently on sale for the Ringgold Playhouse’s second show of the season, Larry Shue’s the Foreigner. The production will run June 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, and 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the historic Ringgold Depot.
The Playhouse kicked off its 2014 season with the thriller Wait Until Dark in February and March, and now looks to bring some summer laughter to Ringgold with the Foreigner production.
“We’re changing speeds again with this production,” said Director and Ringgold Playhouse Creator Adam Cook. “We had opened the season with a suspense thriller, and now we’re going to trade in the intensity for lots more laughs.”
This is the second of three performances brought to the Ringgold Depot by the Playhouse. Bus Stop by William Inge premiered in 2013 and the success of the show encouraged a second season, said officials.
The productions are sponsored by the Ringgold Convention and Visitors Bureau which utilizes hotel/motel taxes to fund outdoor festivals and tourist attractions in Ringgold. "Everything we do through the CVB helps bring people downtown, gets people to stop here from I-75 and spend money in our local economy," explained Dr. Ronal Graham, chairman of the CVB. "The important part is that the tax money comes from tourists and not from residents in order to fund these great downtown events."
Review for the Foreigner:
The play takes place at a fishing lodge in rural Georgia often visited by "Froggy" LeSeuer, a British demolition expert who occasionally runs training sessions at a nearby army base. This time "Froggy" has brought along a friend, a pathologically shy young man named Charlie who is overcome with fear at the thought of making conversation with strangers. So "Froggy," before departing, tells all assembled that Charlie is from an exotic foreign country and speaks no English.
Once alone the fun really begins, as Charlie overhears more than he should — the evil plans of a sinister, two-faced minister and his redneck associate; the fact that the minister's pretty fiancée is pregnant; and many other damaging revelations made with the thought that Charlie doesn't understand a word being said. That he does fuels the nonstop hilarity of the play and sets up the wildly funny climax in which things go uproariously awry for the "bad guys," and the "good guys" emerge triumphant.
The cast is comprised of Dan Lyons playing the title role, Pat O’Brien as “Froggy,” Josh O’Bryant as “David,” Sherry Dee Allen as “Catherine,” Ronald King as “Ellard,” Julie Peters as “Betty,” and Dexter Coley as “Owen.
Tickets are $10, with prorated season tickets still available for $15. Tickets can be purchased at ringgoldplayhouse2014.eventbrite.com or by visiting Ringgold City Hall at 150 Tennessee Street, Ringgold, GA 30736.