Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso go into a Paris bar. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it’s the premise for SNL alum Steve Martin’s wild and wacky Picasso at the Lapin Agile, playing through Sunday, Dec. 6, at New Village Arts Theatre. Dana Case directs.

The time is 1904, both men are in their 20s and on the verge of contributions that would change the 20th century. Picasso (Tim Parker) is about to emerge from his Blue Period and launch into what we know as cubism. Einstein (Tom Zohar) is in the middle of formulating the special theory of relativity that would change the world of physics forever.

The Lapin Agile, run by barkeep Freddy (Brian Abraham) and his waitress girlfriend Germaine (Kristianne Kurner), is refuge for several other quirky characters as well. There’s Gaston (Eddie Yaroch), 60ish, with a bladder problem; Suzanne (Amanda Morrow), who has known Einstein “twice;” art dealer Sagot (Sandra Ellis-Troy, in a bit of cross-gender casting), who wants to get her hands on a Picasso or two; Charles Dabernow Schmendiman (Kyle Lucy), an inventor of dubious ability; a time-traveling Visitor (Greg Wittman); and two other female characters played by the versatile Morrow.

Martin shows himself to be not just an adept comic writer, but knowledgeable enough about science, art, philosophy and marketing to be able to poke fun at them. Bar patrons use a painting of sheep in a field to discuss the nature of art and perception. Sagot goes off on a hilarious riff about subjects that don’t sell. Schmendiman asserts that the shortest distance between two points is a foot and a half. And a late arrival, the Visitor, predicts that “this century, the accomplishments of artists and scientists outshone the accomplishments of politicians and governments.”

Art and science are all very nice, but hey, this is Paris, where life ultimately comes down to sex – at least for this gang, with Gaston lamenting its loss and most of the others on the make. When well-known philanderer Picasso tries to cozy up to Suzanne, she calls him “a womanizing bastard fraud.” His response: “If you’re trying to praise me, that’s a poor choice of words.”

Zohar is a hoot as the wild-haired Einstein who “discovered at an early age that I am the kind of person who will always look 86.” Parker’s Picasso is amusing, but lacks the animal magnetism that made this man a babe magnet.

Abraham is fine as the foil for Picasso and Einstein; Lucy amuses as the oddball Schmendiman, and Yaroch gives us a sympathetic Gaston, though he doesn’t look old enough to be spending that much time in the bathroom.

Kurner’s flirty Germaine and Morrow’s three female characters provide terrific counterpoint to the guys, and Ellis-Troy is fine, especially in her riff.

Though literally moving the third wall at the top of the show doesn’t seem necessary, it does serve to point up the fact that it helps to stay on your mental toes during this show, because the references whiz by. But whether or not you catch them all, you can’t help but be charmed and amused by this artistic and scientific romp.

Picasso at the Lapin Agile plays through Sunday Dec. 6, at New Village Arts Theatre. Shows Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets, call 760-433-3245 or visit www.NewVillageArts.org.

Charlie Baker’s wife has pronounced him so “shatteringly, profoundly boring” that she has even banished him from the hospital where she may be dying. Old army buddy S/Sgt. “Froggy” LeSueur (Chalie Riendeau) has brought Charlie (Howard Bickle, Jr.) to an out-of-the-way Georgia hunting lodge to get away and to lick his emotional wounds.

Froggy, still in the British army and on loan as teacher to a local post, is a hail-fellow-well-met type, gregarious and friendly. Charlie is just the opposite:

terminally shy, he’s spent his life “behind my gray little proofreader’s desk” and now wonders, “how does one acquire personality?”

Charlie is so horrified at the thought that he might have to interact with other people that Froggy saves the day by concocting a goofy backstory: he tells lodge proprietor Betty (Dagmar Krause Fields) he is a foreigner who doesn’t speak English and is not to be spoken to in order not to make him feel uncomfortable about his inability to communicate.

Betty, a sweet old soul with thwarted dreams of foreign travel, might get the next best thing with the appearance of this “foreigner” in her midst.

A silly plot? You betcha. But admit it: haven’t you always wanted to listen in on conversations when nobody knows you’re there? And Shue gives Charlie some interesting stuff to hear.

Catherine (Aimee Nelson) and fiance, Rev. David Marshall Lee (Paul Morgavo) are an attractive couple with a secret or two. The multi-tattooed Owen Musser (Paul A. Canaletti, Jr., also responsible for the lighting design) has designs on the lodge and has managed to get himself named property inspector to facilitate his goals. And Catherine’s slow-on-the-draw younger brother Ellard (Ryan Hunter Lee) introduces other complications.

If you’re looking for sophisticated comedy, this isn’t it, but it’s difficult not to be amused and heartened by both Charlie’s transformation from fearful nebbish to colorful raconteur – in a “foreign” language, yet – and Ellard’s move toward self-confidence as Charlie’s English “teacher.”

This is a strong ensemble cast, working on N. Dixon Fish’s nicely designed set. My favorite is Riendeau, whose Froggy doesn’t miss a beat. Bickle is convincing as the wallflower-turned-rose; Fields delightful as Betty; Lee fine as Ellard.

Canaletti and Morgavo remind us of the worst in ourselves. Nelson looks wonderful but seems to be having so much fun she has trouble containing a smile.

The Foreigner was savaged by New York critics when it premiered in 1984. John Simon called it “mostly ... unintelligent trash;” Frank Rich pronounced it “hardly worth the effort.” But that didn’t keep The Foreigner from a two-year off-Broadway run and two Obie awards.

Audiences love the show because its good heart shines through and tells us something about ourselves that we can take home. And its messages about tolerance and the danger of jumping to conclusions are especially applicable now.

The Foreigner runs through Sunday, Nov. 29, at the Avo Playhouse in Vista.

Shows Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets, call 760-724-2110 or visit www.vistixonline