The Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, the McAninch Arts Center’s resident professional equity theater company, is launching its 2024-25 season with “The Outsider” by Paul Slade Smith, directed by ensemble member Kurt Naebig of Lombard.
Performances are set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday from Sept. 5 to Oct. 6 at the McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. Tickets cost $42 to $44. For information, call 630-942-4000 or go to atthemac.org.
Smith is a writer and actor based in Brooklyn, New York, who appeared with Buffalo Theatre Ensemble in the 1993 world premiere and the 1996 revival of “Hotel D’amour.”
“It’s exciting that he’s worked with us,” Naebig said.
Naebig noted that while it’s interesting that the playwright has a connection to the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, the play is nonetheless very apropos given the upcoming election.
“It’s a great time for this play,” he said. “It’s a super funny, non-partisan comedy about elections and the absurdity of some of the things that go on. The time was right. I think everybody is looking for a break from some of the stress of that in their own lives. That was one of the reasons we chose it and I don’t think we could’ve made a better choice. It’s a really well-put-together show.”
The conceit at the top of the play, he said, is that the governor from one state has to step down after being caught in a compromising position. The lieutenant governor, Ned Newley, has to step up and take over.
“And he is actually the brains behind the governor,” he said. “The governor was basically just a charming face who knew nothing. The lieutenant governor was the one who came up with all the plans and knew how everything worked in the state and is a genius. But he is completely unable to even talk to most people. And certainly not able to talk publicly. So he is ill-suited for the job.”
When it comes time for him to be sworn in, everything goes to heck in a handbasket and the whole thing is a car crash. It’s clear to all involved that what Ned lacks in public speaking ability, he makes up for in zero political savvy. In short, the man needs help.
Enter a slick political consultant who decides Ned’s the perfect candidate because the people want an intelligent guy who comes across as down-to-earth and maybe not so smart, Naebig said.
“He’s an outsider, thus the title,” he said. “The play is non-partisan, it’s really funny and it is uplifting. It’s not the kind of play where people are going to go home arguing with each other. I think it brings people together. There’s no finger-shaking at anyone, which I think is awesome.”
The play is relevant right now because it’s about a surprising occurrence that puts somebody else in the catbird’s seat for a job, which seems to have some echoes of what we’re seeing in the world today, he said.
“It’s about a need or a belief that maybe somebody who’s not part of the political establishment would be better in a job of power – or that’s what the political consultant seems to think,” he said. “I think we all just need to laugh right now. We need to laugh and get an escape.”
Audiences will be laughing a lot, he said.
“I’ve seen (the play) many times at this point and I’m laughing my behind off every night,” he said. “We’ve got a great cast and it’s an incredibly funny show. I guarantee they’ll be laughing through the whole show and they’ll be laughing as they walk out of the theater.”
He’s calling this season “the season of laughter.”
“All of our plays are funny,” he said. “We felt like it was time for people to laugh.”
Other plays this season include “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” (a companion play to last season’s “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley”) and “Native Gardens.”
The cast for “The Outsider” includes Robert Jordan Bailey as Ned Newley, Joe Bushell as Dave Riley, Hugh Callaly as Arthur Vance, Lisa Dawn as Rachel Parsons, Zach Kunde as A.C. Petersen, Sara Mountjoy-Pepka as Paige Caldwell and Laura Leonardo Ownby as Louise Peakes.
There is an American Sign Language performance at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26.
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.