The current political climate in this country suggests a less-than-warm reception for foreigners on American soil. Certainly, the foreigner in the eponymously named play opening at the Milwaukee Rep would agree.
But Larry Shue’s 1983 play, written for The Rep, manages to be both funny and poignant as it tells the story of an outsider in a small Georgia town.
"The play has always been hilarious. It has always had a huge heart. It's always had this wonderful message. But the thing that's amazing now is the political climate that we're finding ourselves in, here in 2016, where the title of the play alone is kind of charged language," says director Laura Gordon. "It's almost like this play is more potent now, you know, than Larry probably had any idea it would be. So it seems like a great time to be doing this play."
Milwaukee Rep's production of The Foreigner, stars Jim Pickering and Linda Stephens, who was married to the late playwright Larry Shue. The play opens November 15 at the Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse stage.
