Continuing through June 26 at Long Beach Playhouse is Larry Shue's award-winning comedy The Foreigner, directed by Marla Gam-Hudson. Shue's play won two Obie Awards and two Outer Critics Circle Awards, and is a perennial box-office favorite.

It is set in a sleepy fishing lodge in rural Georgia where Froggy LeSeur, a British demolition expert often goes for relaxation. This time he brings along his pathologically shy young friend named Charlie who has extreme difficulty in conducting even the most simple conversation with strangers. Before departing, Froggy tells everyone that Charlie is from an exotic foreign country and speaks no English. Assuming he cannot understand them, the devious locals go about business and Charlie becomes privy to all sorts of hanky-panky which feeds the hilarity.

The cast includes Dan Cole, Marie Benoit, Patricia Fransisco, Ryan C. Benson, Jacob Robertson, Justin Eick, Cory Estrella, Michael Lazar, Bobby D. Lux, Paul L. Arnold and Bill Peters.

The Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St. Call (562) 494-1616 for information.

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent