Huffin’ and Puffin on stage

Chances are you’ve never heard of the English comedy “Goodnight Mrs. Puffin,” but you’re in for a pleasant surprise at the Newport Theater Arts Center.

Arthur Lovegrove’s script is about as foreign to local audiences as are all but one of the show’s cast members. And, in this case, unfamiliarity breeds contentment.

It’s a bit far-fetched, and it tends to slow down near the finish line (when its title character isn’t on stage), but “Goodnight Mrs. Puffin” is a jolly good romp for its viewers under the skilled direction of Gigi Fusco Meese.

Strong performances elevate this featherweight comedy about an upper-class English family virtually invaded by a clairvoyant Cockney lass who predicts events with unerring accuracy. She’s been dreaming about this particular brood and is anxious to share her visions.

The fun comes as the besieged Britons simmer and boil over their uninvited guest but nevertheless are transfixed by her apparent supernatural powers. And the Newport actors are a particularly capable ensemble, erupting with comical fury on several occasions.

Henry and Ethel Fordyce (Mitchell Nunn and Dee Shandera) are planning the wedding of one of their two daughters, (Andrea Paquin) which also will unite the companies of the two fathers. Sister Pamela (Stephanie Robinson) and brother Nicholas (Gary Spangler) complete the Fordyce clan in strong support.

The interloper, Amelia Puffin (Sharon McMahon), blows all these plans out of the water with her dead-on predictions of both relevant and mundane incidents. Soon the timid fiancé Victor (Gregory McEwen) and his furious father Stephen (Robert Fetes) are involved, along with an Australian guest, Roger (Phil Arney), who becomes an active ingredient in the plot.

McMahon’s performance is an absolute howl as she immerses herself into the lives of this snooty assemblage with all the blatant charm of Eliza Doolittle. Nunn and Shandera excellently portray the short-fused parents, driven to distraction by their unwanted visitor.

Both Paquin and Robinson exude class and cuteness, but it’s Spangler’s forced witticisms that draw the most comic blood. As the lone family member to side with the title character, Spangler proves almost as pesky an irritant as Mrs. Puffin herself.

Fetes appears to be channeling character actors Fred Clark and Gale Gordon in his volcanic businessman role, a strongly enacted portrayal. McEwen is somewhat placid as Paquin’s intended groom, while Arney has some fine moments late in the play. Micaela De Lauro completes the cast as the family maid.

As competent as the supporting cast is, however, it’s difficult to maintain the madcap level of action when McMahon’s Cockney character is absent.

Playwright Lovegrove attempts to tie up all his loose ends late in the play and winds up spinning his wheels until Mrs. Puffin reappears to set things right.

Set designer Bill Cole has created an attractive, upper-class drawing room that, along with Donna Fritsche’s costumes, vividly evokes the 1950s. Cole and Andrew Otero have furnished the setting beautifully.

“Goodnight Mrs. Puffin” is one of those English trifles the Newport Theater Arts Center has made a staple of its diet. A tasty morsel indeed.