Play politics: Adobe Theater to bring farce 'The Outsider' to the stage

Lt. Gov. Ned Newley doesn’t want to be governor. He’s terrified of public speaking; his poll numbers are terrible. To his ever-supportive chief of staff, he seems doomed to failure. But political consultant Arthur Vance sees things differently: Ned might be the worst candidate to ever run for office, unless the public is looking for the worst candidate to ever run for office.

The Adobe Theater will tell Ned’s story in “The Outsider,” opening Friday, May 31.

Paul Slade Smith’s political farce pokes fun at everyone in politics. The script peeks behind the scenes, flush with all the stereotypes associated with the people who govern us all.

Ned is a nerd. He’s thrust into office when the governor is forced out after an affair with a second place beauty contestant.

“He’s so shy and he doesn’t do well in front of people,” said director Nancy Sellin.

He needs a major makeover, and a Boston political consultant wants to transform him into someone who doesn’t know anything.

It’s as if Oscar Wilde has come back from the dead to write an episode of “The West Wing.”

“It pokes fun at everything we seem to have in our political world,” Sellin said.

The chief of staff is panicking, not knowing exactly how to handle Ned. Newley went on television to accept the position, and stood mesmerized like a deer in the headlights, for five minutes, trembling and silent. After the show, in anticipation of a special election, the chief of staff hires a professional pollster he has worked with before. Their styles didn’t mesh, but he knows she can get the work done. He also hires a temp to run the reception area, but she can’t do her job, either.

A socially-challenged introvert, Ned is overwhelmed. He has been the one doing all the work, but the governor has taken the credit. Everyone thinks the lieutenant governor is a name-only position. After his TV appearance, everyone thinks Ned is a simpleton, one everyone loves, including Arthur Vance, the political consultant.

Vance has been behind several of the recent presidents. He is about to retire. But then he sees Ned Newley, his dream political candidate. Vance has always wanted someone the people can identify with, so he flies in to work with Newley. He wants Newley to keep up the simpleton persona. The chief of staff is highly against this tactic. He knows the smart, hardworking side of Newley, and feels it is misrepresentation. The pollster is on Vance’s side, and the temp is a ditz.

“It hints at all the things that are going on in politics right now,” Sellin said. “In the end, the right guy gets the job. In the end, democracy still wins.”