Theater Review:

When “The Foreigner” debuted in 1983 in Milwaukee and went on to be produced in New York, writer Frank Rich gave Larry Shue’s play a less-than-flattering review, calling the plot preposterous and citing it as “convoluted shenanigans” in the New York Times.

It is unfortunate that Rich, as well as Shue, who died in a plane crash less than two years after its debut, weren’t able to see the St. Francis Stage Company’s production of this delightfully enthralling comedy about a stuffy Englishman’s adventures in rural Georgia, which not only had a full house at its debut weekend, but was a laugh-out-loud hit from beginning to end.

Charlie Baker (Daniel Roebuck), an uptight and shy English proofreader at a science fiction magazine, accompanies Sgt. Froggy LeSeuer (John Goodwin) in a cross-Atlantic trip to Georgia for a few days away from his ill, adulterous wife. Although Froggy tries to reassure him about the trip, his reservations about interacting with Betty Meeks (Vicki Dlugolecki) and other guests at Meeks Lodge overwhelmingly begin to worry the timid and self-proclaimed boring Charlie.

“I’ve often wondered,” he asks, “how does one go about acquiring a personality?”

To save his friend the trouble, Froggy coyly tells Betty that Charlie is a foreigner from an exotic, undisclosed country who doesn’t speak any English, much to the local lodge owner’s excitement. Betty, a charming Southern woman, is already a handful for Charlie, with or without communication, but his troubles grow as he realizes that Catherine Simms (Pamela Zappia), an ex-deb engaged to the Rev. David Marshall Lee (Mike Maddigan) and her mentally challenged brother Ellard (Chris Kennedy) are also staying at Meeks Lodge.

Roebuck, a 25-year film veteran and the play’s director, shines as Charlie — with a believable English accent to boot. Roebuck isn’t the only one on point throughout the two-act play. Owen Musser is so accurately and authentically portrayed by Jim Roope that it’s hard to get enough of this good-for-nothing, tattooed, toothpick-yielding troublemaker. From Charlie to Betty and the hilarious crowd-pleasing antics of Ellard, who takes it upon himself to teach Charlie English, the performances and delivery are so pleasing that it’s easy to forget you’re watching a play at Holy Cross Hall.