Charlie Baker

Charlie Baker is the "foreigner" of the play's title, an Englishman in his late-forties who comes to Georgia for a weekend visit with his friend, Staff Sergeant Froggy LeSueur. Initially, Charlie is extremely shy, dull, and morose as he worries about the apparently imminent death of his philandering wife. A proofreader for an English science fiction magazine, Charlie considers himself "boring" and wonders what it would be like to have a vibrant personality. At the beginning of the play, Charlie is so sad and shy that he doesn't want to speak to anyone.

When Froggy introduces him as a "foreigner" who can't speak or understand English, however, Charlie gradually discovers his hidden potential. Overhearing the plot of the Reverend David and Owen Musser to buy Betty's lodge and turn it into a meeting place for the Ku Klux Klan, Charlie ultimately leads Betty, Catherine, and Ellard in...