“What kind of a night is this anyway?” Set in an isolated tavern in 1809, George M. Cohan’s two-part melodrama “The Tavern” chronicles a stormy night full of love triangles, comedy, unanswered questions and unexpected plot twists that all begin with one strange visitor.

Directed by Tom Gough, Foothill College Theatre Arts Department Chair, “The Tavern” was originally performed in 1918 as “The Choice of a Super-Man” by Cora Dick Gantt, but was later purchased and re-worked by Cohan into what it presently is, what one character implicitly describes during the play as “a delightfully dramatic night.” The comedic breaks, double entendres and word play all help make “The Tavern” the amusing, spell-binding and light-hearted play that it is.

Gough was waiting for the right opportunity to put on this production and it seems he found it this spring. According to Gough, the circumstances were perfect for him to delve into what he sees as one of his “guilty pleasures.”

“The Tavern was probably one of the first times, outside of Monty Python, I discovered how truly delightful the manipulation of words and language into clever turns of phrase could be,” Gough said when he first saw “The Tavern” as a teenager.

With a cast list that includes both graduates and current members of the Foothill Theatre Conservatory, “The Tavern” is a gripping tale as the perfect mixture of circumstance, comedy, mystery and romance.

“The Tavern” shows weekly Thursday through Sunday at Foothill’s Lohman Theater, through June 5.