Biography, philosophy, art and out-and-out farcical ridiculousness are some of the themes present in the multitude of plays being offered by area theater companies this weekend.
At the Center Theatre in Dover-Foxcroft, the Slightly Off-Center Players present the hilarious mystery “The Foreigner,” written by Larry Shue and directed by Richard Kuhlman. In the play, a man who pretends to speak no English stays in backwoods Georgia, while trying to negotiate in a world of Southern belles, rednecks and preachers. The show opens at 7 tonight and runs again at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a 2 p.m. matinee. It also runs the following weekend. Tickets are available at the door.
Also this weekend, Bangor Community Theater offers up its production of Neil Simon’s “Rumors,” a zany farce that takes place during a dinner party in which everything goes wrong. Gunshots, public drunkenness and wackiness abound. Director Ben Laymen leads a cast of Bangor regulars in a show that kicks off at 7 p.m. Sept. 25-26 and 4 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Next Generation Theatre on Center Street in Brewer. “Rumors” also runs the following weekend; tickets are available at the door.
Three performances are set for the Bangor Opera House this weekend, in the Penobscot Theatre’s first-ever Solo Performance Festival. At 7 tonight: David Katz’s acclaimed one-man play “Muse of Fire,” the last directorial effort of Charles Nelson Reilly. The play is about the art of conducting and is gripping, humorous and deeply moving. Comedian and monologuist Karen Morgan will give a performance at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, with her trademark blend of wit, observations and family-friendly content.
Finally, two performances of “An Evening with Mark Twain” are set for 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26. Kurt H. Sutton does an incredible tribute to the great American man of letters, regaling the audience with tales, anecdotes and wisdom. Tickets for all three shows are available at the Penobscot Theatre box office.