THEATER REVIEW ‘THE FOREIGNER’ : Farcical Fare : The play about two Englishmen who pull a prank on some sleepy Southerners starts slowly but quickly picks up steam.

Certain plays seem to waft with the breeze, showing up seemingly everywhere at once and with no apparent reason.

The Conejo Players might have been prompted to do “Bye Bye Birdie� because of a successful recent touring revival, and more companies are probably performing “On Golden Pond� and “Driving Miss Daisy� because of the hit film versions.

But why should two local companies have chosen to mount “A Midsummer Night’s Dream� last year? And why would a Simi Valley company choose to perform Larry Shue’s 1985 farce, “The Foreigner,� at about the same time as a Santa Barbara group, whose production just closed?

Whatever the answer, the Santa Susana Repertory Company is doing “The Foreigner� upright proper, as they might say in Tilghman County, Georgia.

It is to that remote corner of the country that English soldier and demolition expert “Froggy� Le Sueur has come, to advise a local U.S. Army company. He’s brought along a friend, Charlie Baker, also English and looking for a few days’ uninterrupted rest.

In order that Charlie won’t be disturbed, Le Sueur comes up with the idea of passing him off to everybody at Betty Meeks’ Fishing Lodge Resort as a “foreigner� of obscure ethnicity who speaks no English. Instead of ignoring him, though, the locals treat Charlie as a curiosity, something somewhere between an exotic pet and an inscrutable mystic.

The play starts slowly, its initial premise more than a bit preposterous. But about 20 minutes in, once the audience is comfortable with the notion that the Georgians are swallowing the ruse, Shue’s dialogue tops itself again and again. Charlie begins to view the continuation of the deception as not just necessary (we won’t get into why, here), but also as downright fun. Inventing his own language on the fly, he soon has everybody else in thrall.

There’s a romance involved, too, and a plot that winds up in a bit of comic inventiveness that might remind some of the movie, “Home Alone.�

Some of the acting during last Sunday’s performance began as haltingly as the script, but soon everyone was chugging along on all cylinders. Marc Silver is terrific as Charlie, looking and playing like a more subtle Dudley Moore.

(Silver and director Jon C. Slade take an approach to the character who is now a cliche: a meek man, muttering in a high-pitched voice, which may have originated with comedian Andy Kaufman’s “foreign man.� The portrayal was later adapted by Kaufman as Latka of TV’s “Taxi� and currently is used by Bronson Pinchot as Balki Bartokomous in “Perfect Strangers.�)

Patience Cleveland plays Betty Meeks, the somewhat dotty owner of the lodge, and Wes Deitrick and Susan Rayburn are featured in the relatively bland roles of young lovers Catherine Simms and the Rev. David Lee. Richard Harwood is fine as “Froggy� Le Sueur.

Richard Fullerton and Demian Slade take what appear at first to be minor roles and eventually all but run away with the show whenever they’re on: Fullerton (who starred as an Irish fisherman in the Performing Artists Guild’s “Sea Marks� last year) as an edgy redneck, and Slade as Simms’ dim-witted younger brother. They’re caricatures, like everyone else in the play, but wonderful nonetheless.

* WHERE AND WHEN

“The Foreigner� continues through April 26 at the old courthouse, 3190 Cochran St. in Simi Valley. Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8, and Sundays at 2 and 7. General admission tickets are $10; $7.50 for students and seniors; and $5 for children. Group rates are available. For reservations or further information, call 582-9000.