As farce, The Outsider is warm and satisfying in the way that wholly predictable comedy often is, sailing along on the enthusiasm of an appealing cast that director Ray Ficca has all playing in the same madcap key.
It’s a show for me … I appreciated the alacrity with which these actors committed to familiar comic archetypes, particularly the two Keegan veterans, [Susan Marie Rhea as Louise Peakes] and [Michael Innocenti as Dave Riley]. Rhea sells the heck out of a one-note part, summoning genuine laughs from bits that barely even qualify as jokes… Innocenti and [Rebecca Ballinger as Rachel Parsons], meanwhile, give a burgeoning romantic attraction between them just the right note of clumsy possibility.
Their earnestness suits the material. In comedy as in politics, shtick abounds but skill matters. You get no points for pretending you’re too cool for your job.
