by Emily Edelman
in Paul Slade Smith’s “The Outsider,” being staged by the Ghent Playhouse, a scandal that forces a state’s governor to resign thrusts the lieutenant governor into the prominence he never wanted. Smith’s fast-moving comedy is hilarious from its first moments and remains that way till the end.
Leo Hernandez as chief of staff Dave has his hands full juggling the social ineptitude of accidental governor Ned, and his deadpan delivery of some of the play’s best lines is spot on. Emily Bryan as jaded pollster Paige is witty, sarcastic and no-nonsense. Steven Leifer’s Arthur does everything he can to make Ned into “just an average guy” in a way that is both utterly ridiculous and completely plausible. Cathy Lee-Visscher as Lulu the temporary receptionist is endearing in her empty-headedness and handily steals the scene each time she is on stage.
Worth noting is that director Sky Vogel was not supposed to play the role of Ned but took it on when the actor who was initially cast had to bow out due to a family emergency (the portrait of the governor hanging over the set’s office desk is of the aforementioned actor, a thoughtful way to keep him present in the show). Vogel’s comfort with the character’s quirky mannerisms and hapless malaise easily fools one into thinking that he had much longer than two and a half weeks to prepare.
An astute choice for an election year as well as a helpful dose of comic relief from it, “The Outsider” runs through Sunday, Oct. 20.
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Written by Paul Slade Smith. Director: Sky Vogel. Cast: Leo Hernandez, Emily Bryan, Sky Vogel, Cathy Lee-Visscher, Steven Leifer, Alexandra Doggette, Dylan LeSage. Assistant director: Thorn Burnham. Lighting design: Barry Streifert. Sound design: Michael OKeeffe. Costume coordinator: Scarlet Sansone. Set design: Sky Vogel.