In FST’s ‘The Outsider,’ a reluctant politician finds his footing

In his recent performances at Florida Studio Theatre, Sheffield Chastain has often played colorful, dynamic and potentially over-the-top characters who couldn’t be more different than the reluctant politician he portrays in the comedy “The Outsider,” which closes the company’s summer season.

In fact, Chastain said when he was asked by director Kate Alexander to read Paul Slade Smith’s script, he assumed it was for another character. After playing the troubled, “mad as hell”  television news broadcaster Howard Beale in “Network” and a showy, fringe-loving costume designer and country music manager in “Troubadour,” he didn’t see himself playing Ned Newley, a lieutenant governor who is thrust into the top job after his boss gets caught in a scandal.

Ned is not your typical politician.

“If you met this guy, you wouldn’t believe he was running for office. He can’t say a word. He is petrified of not only speaking publicly but just regular social interaction,” said Alexander. “He is ridiculous that way.”

Those around Ned believe him and believe in him, particularly his chief of staff played by Gil Brady, another FST regular.

“I think I fundamentally believe in Ned as a candidate,” Brady said of his character, Dave Riley “I believe in everything that’s good and right about someone like him holding a position of power. That’s why I was drawn to the role in the first place.”

Brady said he tends to shy away from partisan theater, aside from an occasional satirical musical number in FST’s ongoing cabaret series “Laughing Matters.”

In “The Outsider,” the playwright “has kept it middle of the road, kept it ambiguous.”

As he is encouraged to run for governor, Ned is suddenly surrounded by experts – pollsters and political consultants who try to give him a makeover in his appearance and speaking skills. They don’t want him to be a slick, smooth-talking politico, but rather an ordinary, guy-next-door who average voters could respond to. Fortunately, there’s a real person behind the awkward speaker.

“He is somebody who knows everything about government. He’s trying to do the best for everyone that he can, but he’s not good at the performative aspect that we require of our politicians. He has no skill in that and he doesn’t want to do it,” Chastain said.

Ned had served as state treasurer and “people voted for him because he looked like a treasurer,” Chastain said. “He just wants to figure out medicare reimbursements, fix roads and help small businesses. The real things."

Even though it is about government and politics, Alexander and the two actors said it is definitely not a political play.

“It’s not about politics or ideaology. When you’re watching the play, you’re going to see whatever idealogy you have,” Chastain said. “You’ll think we’re talking about the other guys, not about political agendas. It skewers the voter and the people who manipulate the voters.”

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Alexander said it will be recognizable to audiences as it showcases “the people who get pushed forward” and how they are remade to look more exciting. “We’re a more visual culture and we’re shaped by performative art. Do you look good on TV? Do you come across well? This pushes the buttons on all that,” she said.

Artistic Director Richard Hopkins describes it as “warm and lovable because it doesn’t deal with the negatives surrounding our political world but focuses on the need for government and what it does. ‘The Outsider’ mostly deals with the follies of humanity, which makes it a great comedy."

The cast includes several returning actors, including Eileen Ward as the governor’s executive assistant; Roy Stanton as Arthur Vance, a successful political consultant who sees potential in Ned; Kevin Cristaldi as a news cameraman; and Tatiana Williams as a TV correspondent. New to the theater is Heather Patterson King, who plays the smart and confident pollster Paige Caldwell.

The production features costumes by Daniel Ciba, sets by Isabel A. Curley-Clay and Moriah Curley-Clay, and lighting by Andrew Gray.

‘The Outsider’

By Paul Slade Smith. Directed by Kate Alexander. Runs July 24-Aug. 18, Florida Studio Theatre Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St., Sarasota. Tickets are $25-$46. 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: In ‘The Outsider,’ FST stages an apolitical comedy about poltiics