Opening with an award-winning comedy, the Sterling College theatre season begins on Thursday, Sept. 10, with “The Foreigner,” directed by Kacie Hastings. Seven Sterling students will take the stage at 8 p.m. in Culbertson Auditorium in Spencer Hall to perform the play written by Larry Shue.
“The Foreigner” transports the audience to a rural fishing lodge in Georgia. British demolition expert Sergeant “Froggy” LeSueur frequents the lodge and this time, he brings his friend Charlie. Being shy, Froggy and Charlie pretend that Charlie doesn’t understand English in order to avoid talking with the other guests. With this false understanding, the other guests freely talk about private conversations in front of Charlie, which leads to a series of humorous and sometimes awkward situations.
“It is great to be back in Culbertson Auditorium directing ‘The Foreigner.’ The students have been working over the summer to memorize their lines and really came together once they got to campus a few weeks ago. They’ve done a great job bonding as a cast, and I’m excited to see them perform on opening night,” said Hastings, director.
Tickets can be purchased from the box office the night of the show beginning at 7 p.m. Advance tickets can be ordered online through Sterling College’s partnership with Ticketleap by visiting goo.gl\kneD2T. From the Ticketleap website, attendees can pick the area of the auditorium in which they would like to sit or choose the default setting of best available seat. All tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students, children and seniors. Doors open for seating at 7:30 p.m.
The cast for “The Foreigner” includes: Matthew Purdom of Clearwater, as Sergeant “Froggy” LeSueur; Micah Watney of Sterling, as Charlie Baker; Abbey Pickering of Clearwater, as Betty Meeks; Elijah Klein of Valley Center, as Reverend David Marshall Lee; Claire Zerull of North Richland Hills, Texas, as Catherine Simms; Nate Sizemore of Clearwater, as Ellard Simms; and Bryce Bassett of Goddard, as Owen Musser.
Sterling College has three other main stage productions this year: “9 to 5,” book by Patricia Resnick, music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, directed by Samantha Kennedy, Oct. 22-24; “Chess,” book by Richard Nelson, lyrics by Tim Rice, music by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson, directed by Samantha Kennedy, March 3-5; and “Hedda Gabler” by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Samantha Kennedy, April 14-16.