Valley Actors Club stages a full of pleasant surprises production of 'The Foreigner ' at LionHeart Hall

LOGAN – I was pleasantly surprised to find that the opening night performance of The Foreigner by the Valley Actors Club at LionHeart Hall wasn’t at all what I expected.

Based on comments from the new theater group’s website about prioritizing the art of acting through small cast shows without elaborate staging, I was anticipating a paired down production with few frills.

Instead, the broad stage at LionHeart Hall was fully dressed with a well-designed set, the production featured more than adequate lighting and sound as well as a few special effects.

But those welcome surprises took nothing away from the VAC cast’s performances, which were mostly top-notch throughout the uproarious two act comedy.

Penned by Larry Shue, the 1984 Off-Broadway hit is widely regarded as one of the best attempts by an American playwright to capture the comic essence of the classic British farce.

The only staple of that theatre genre missing from The Foreigner is constantly slamming doors. But Shue’s script makes up for that shortcoming with plenty of opportunities for slapstick physical comedy and tons of witty wordplay.

The insanity starts when a broken-hearted and introverted Englishman (marvelously played by Daniel Francis) gets stranded in a backwoods lodge in Georgia. To avoid interacting with the bizarre inhabitants of the rustic resort, Francis pretends to be an exotic foreigner who understands no English.

As quick as you can say “hush ma mouth,” Francis is up to his eyeballs in everyone’s secrets because no one can resist spilling the beans in front of him.

Francis is generously supported by a winning cast.

Director Morgan Nadauld wisely decided to fill the role of the frustrated heiress Catherine herself. Reluctantly, Naudald finds herself captivated by a good and sympathetic listener.

Marianne Sidwell is a hoot as the widowed lodge owner who feels free to meddle in her guest’s lives.

KP Pyfer is suitably despicable as the Reverend Lee, a racist con man out to swindle Catherine out of her inheritance.

As Sgt. Froggy LeSeuer, Bennett Carll Floyd delivers a finale with a real bang.

Finally, Joe Wall absolutely shines as Catherine’s “slow” brother who turns out to be way smarter than everyone thinks.

In her role as director, Ms. Naudald also deserves kudos for keeping her cast members’ dialects on track.

There are accents galore in The Foreigner, including clipped British speech patterns, mush-mouthed southern drawls, some pidgin English and one hilarious extended gag in which Francis relates a story in no language known to man.

Thanks to Ms. Naudald, those talented tongues somehow all wagged consistently the right way.

Evening performances of The Foreigner will be presented at the LionHeart Hall on June 5, 6 and 7.

A word of warning, however, for anyone who plans to attend any those performances. The air conditioning in the LionHeart Hall works fine. Too well, in fact. Take a jacket or sweatshirt along if you don’t want to be frozen by the end of the evening.

Tickets for The Foreigner can be purchased at the door or obtained by going online to www.valleyactorsclub.com

LionHeart Hall is located at 480 North, 100 East in Logan.