Theater entertainment: ‘The Outsider’ is a perfect antidote for our times
Play kicks off Limelight Theater’s 2022-’23 season; three other shows planned
From left, Allie Bailey as “Paige Caldwell” and Guillermo Morales as “Dave Riley.”
Photo by
Marty Cheek
By Marty Cheek
When it comes to politics, the less the public thinks you know, the higher you’ll go. And the razor-sharp satire “The Outsider” skewers that fact of government while celebrating democracy. The play will open Limelight Theater’s 2022-2023 season Aug. 26 for a four weekend run.
Playwright Paul Slade Smith’s hilarious and timely show is about a timid politician who overnight finds himself the state governor after the previous governor resigns following a sex scandal.
“Ned Newley” (played by Peter Mandel) is brilliant and smart in government but has no social skills and suffers a paralyzing fear of public speaking.
Even though his Chief of Staff “Dave Riley” (played by Guillermo Morales) believes Ned will be a political failure, political consultant “Arthur Vance” (Jason Harris) sees things differently and sets about to transform Ned’s public image.
Other performers in the cast are Allie Bailey who plays professional pollster “Paige Caldwell,” Christy Wright who plays temporary employee “Louise Peakes,” Lisa Serra who plays the TV reporter “Rachel Parsons,” and Michele Leonard-Maher who plays TV cameraperson “A.C. Petersen.” The play is directed by JoAnna Evans.
“The Outsider” is the perfect antidote for the heaviness of America’s recent political crisis, and it’s especially fun with the election season ramping up, said Emily Shem-Tov, Limelight’s managing director.
“The timing is perfect,” she said. “It opens right before the elections in November and it’s very timely and topical to be addressing what politics and candidates are in today’s world, especially with the media.”
Mandel describes his character as “very competent as a lieutenant governor” but intensely shy with people, making his new job intensely difficult.
“I’m a good person for governance,” he said. “And then I get thrust into this situation where the governor loses his job and I’m now the governor and it’s not a good fit.”
Despite the complications of the situation, the show’s message is a positive one about the future of democracy, he said, explaining the theme as: “We all can remain hopeful. There are a lot of good leaders out there.”
As a fan of politics, Morales explained he can connect with Dave’s plight where he sees Ned Newly as a guy who is really a genuine leader.
“He knows what to do and how to do it. He’s just a big, awkward dork,” he said. “He doesn’t look like he knows how to do it and nobody listens to him. It takes a genuine person to take the time to actually hear him and say, ‘No, this guy actually knows what he’s doing.’”
Paige Caldwell is the first person Dave hires to help the new governor keep his job, Bailey said. It’s a task that seems impossible for the pollster.
“In politics, there’s the artifice,” Bailey said. “There’s what the candidate shows in that public persona that has to be very suave and very likable and you want to vote for that guy, versus the knowledge and the intelligence and knowing how to do the job. That is what Ned Newley is and that’s why Dave is backing him — because he knows how to do the job.”
Limelight’s other shows this season are the musical “The Fantasticks” (opening Oct. 21), the bittersweet comedy “Later Life” (opening Jan. 20) and the comedy “Becky’s New Car” (opening May 26).