If you go
› What: “The Foreigner”› Where: Ringgold Playhouse inside the Ringgold Depot, 155 Depot St., Ringgold, Georgia› When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14-16, 21-23; 2 p.m. Feb. 23› Admission: $10, $8 students and senior adults› For more information: www.facebook.com/TheRinggoldPlayhouse
The Ringgold Playhouse will kick off its 2019 season Thursday, Valentine's Day, with "The Foreigner."
"This is, by far, one of the funniest shows I've ever done," says director Greg Rambin Sr. "The opportunity to mold a production like this with such a great group of people has been an amazing opportunity."
The play is set in a fishing lodge in rural Georgia that is often visited by Froggy LeSueur, a British demolitions expert who occasionally runs training sessions at a nearby Army base.
This time, Froggy brings along Charlie, a pathologically shy young man 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 fiancee is pregnant and 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.
Now in its sixth season, TRP continues to treat audiences to new faces from this area's pool of talent.
This cast features four actors making their TRP debuts: Denise Frye as Betty, Joanna Keeling as Catherine, Andrew Boone as Rev. David and Will Park in the title role of Charlie the foreigner. The cast also includes three TRP alumni: Dana Rogers as Ellard, Chuck Nalley as Owen and Dan Lyons as Froggy.
"We have a lot of great actors in our company, but every year we get fantastic new faces who want to come to Ringgold and tell great stories onstage," says TRP Executive Director Adam Cook.
"We're glad the season opener is upon us, and we can't wait to entertain audiences with this wonderful show," Cook says. "Our cast and crew have been working hard since December, and they have a hit comedy on their hands that folks will still be laughing about on the way home."
Tickets can be purchased online at CityOfRinggoldGa.gov or at the door.