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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Now read carefully! I will only write this once
‘Allo ‘Allo Hall Green Little Theatre **** LET me put my cards sur la table from the
start. I am not a fan of popular sitcoms brought to life before your
very eyes upon the stage. Sitcom characters are so closely associated with
the actors portraying them that unless you have the original cast you
are in danger of heading into the realms of karaoke theatre – even more
so when three or so original television episodes are welded together in
the hope audiences will believe it is a play. Thankfully this production avoids that and is a
genuine play, specially written as a stage version by the original 'Allo
'Allo writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, and despite initially making
the obvious comparisons with the TV characters, you soon get carried
along with the glorious stupidity of it all and the Donald McGill
seaside postcard innuendo. Regular Tony O'Hagan could be Gordon Kaye's
double as René Artois, proprietor of Cafe René in Nouvion in occupied
France in the early 1940s. He managed a round of applause just for
appearing at the start, which set the tone for the night, and he kept up
the trademark cod French accent beautifully. Mandy Yeomans as his wife Edith manages to sing
in keys no piano could ever find and along with the waitresses Yvette
and Mimi, played with lustful style by Jennie Almond and Gemma
McCaffrey, she gives us a cabaret performance that could explain why the
genre has all but died out. Then we have Lucy Poulter's Michelle of the
Resistance, who we will only mention once, and Matt Ludlam as Officer
Crabtree who is disguised as a gendarme, an officer of the loo, who
speaks in French so fractured even A&E could not help. Roger Leclerc, played by Jack Haig in the TV
series, has a sex change to be played by Gemma Underwood but is still
the same master of disguise. the “man of a thousand faces – and every
one of them the same” as René once put it.
Down in the cellar, pip pip, Oh I say, are the
British airman Fairfax and Carstairs, Dean Taylor and David Hirst while
leading the enemy is Col Kurt Von Strohm played, wiglet and all, by
James Weetman. His aide de camp, very camp in this case, is Lt
Hubert Gruber played con-mincingly by John Bourbonneux while light
relief is added by Capt Alberto Bertorelli, famous Italian war hero, so
he says, and lecher, so everyone else says, played by Sami Moghraby.
Then for the life and soul of the party, the Nazi party that is, we have
Herr Otto Flick, he of the stiff leg and even stiffer sense of humour,
the local Gestapo chief played by James Kay, along with the victim of
his affections Private Helga Geerhart, played by Sarah Lamb. And overseeing it all is the new commander Gen
Von Schmelling played with one eye, one leg and Teutonic efficiency,
sort of, by Ian Flynn. Schmelling is organising a welcome party for the
one and only Adolf Hitler except he finds himself surrounded by Adolfs
included a blow up version and even one with a puncture in the back
room. The plot is, should we say, daft. It involves a
stolen Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies, by famous knocker
painter Van Klomp, a forgery of the Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies,
one hidden by René for Col Von Strohm and co, the other for Herr
Flick and both hidden in Knackwurst sausages; then there are the two
RAF airmen hidden in the cellar, exploding cheeses, a parrot radio in a
cage which brings tears to the parrot's eyes every time you make a call,
a Gestapo suspender belt that Ann Summers might think of stocking in the
S&M section, and René being caught in no end of compromising
positions with Crabtree by Gruber. Once you get away from comparing it to the
original and start to enjoy it as a particularly silly farce it does
have some very funny moments held together well by René and director
Dean Taylor keeps up a decent pace although the scene changes in front
of curtain could be snappier to avoid losing momentum, but that is
likely to improve as the run goes on. In general the set and design by the director and
Julia Roden is good, giving us a creditable French café although René
and Edith's bed scene could do with a little work to make the bed look
less like two chairs and a table covered in a blanket. Costumes, by Carmen Burkett, Louise Price and
Christine Bland and supplied by Milton Keynes Theatre of Comedy are
excellent and help to create the spirit of the original on stage. The
strong cast are obviously having a ball and despite the deprivations of
wartime France rustle up a very silly and most entertaining evening. Roger Clarke |
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