Allo Allo

‘Allo ‘Allo has woven itself in the fabric of the culture of Britain, bringing an old fashioned smile to those who remember it. First broadcast in 1982, the humour is a hark back to the 70’s as well as early 80’s with lots of double entendres and risqué business which is a welcome nostalgic break for us 40 years later. It was such a massive hit as a TV show and very quotable, and this play version has taken all the most famous bits from the series and threaded it together into one. All the favourite and wonderfully ridiculous characters are there, with all the quotes and fast paced farce humour.

The theatre lends itself to this production, and the set, on the modest stage has certainly everything crammed into it: you are suddenly transported to a café in 1940s occupied France. The set was incredible; truly inspiring to show how so much could be done within the space. Three café tables and chairs, a bar, French food, and the door to the café complete with pane of glass and windows and little lit alleyway could be glimpsed outside. It also looked as if perspective had been built into it which was very clever. The black chalk board behind the bar area opened to reveal the hidden British airmen who popped their goggled heads out to say “hello” in the most heightened RP that’s’ ever been heard, rightly so, as per the TV show. There were stairs at the back going up to the ‘living area’ which people could also enter from, as well as behind the bar, and through the café door.

The props were absolutely suited: French wine, and of course the two sausages hiding a real and a fake painting of ‘the fallen Madonna… ’, which we recognise from the show. A really lovely touch was the real piano at the back of the café, on which a suitably dressed extra at the café played the very well known theme music live at the start of the first act and the second act. On top of that extraordinary set, were two extra locations, created by folding in what appeared to be Barn doors, for Herr Gruber’s office and Herr Flick’s office. The lighting was adjusted to only light those sections when they were used which suitably drew the audience’s attention. There were also a couple of other scenes in front of the curtain. Some other lovely touches include a working light in the café ceiling, an incredibly bizarre looking inflatable Hitler, and a cockatoo the flapped and had radio noises and radio transmissions coming out of it.

Without a good René, this play could fall very short – thankfully, Jonathan Hope excelled as the main character. He has clearly studied the performance and the legendary character created by the actor Gordon Kaye in the TV show, which so many of the fans of the show remember with such warmth. He also managed to speak very similarly which made all the difference and his facial expressions were super. The cast take their pace and their lead from him, rightly so, and the pace was absolutely spot on. His is the character who breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience at length, involving them in the story. He did this with ease, managing to portray the slightly bumbling, stressed, object of many a female character’s desires with aplomb. He held the audience beautifully throughout the show, his energy never dipped.

The other 17 actors on the stage are all connected and their enjoyment spills out to the audience who enjoy it too. They are costumed perfectly, every single thing has been considered, including tiny little mousetraps on a suspender belt at one point. They all looked exactly like their characters on the TV show. There were also some gorgeous details in the performances, including the scene where Helga (played with sensuality and lovely authority by Sadie Ghinn-Morris) helps Herr Flick of the Gestapo (played with dead pan heightened authority by Matthew Thomas) on with his coat while he still held his walking cane, so it had to be threaded through the arm first. Another was René, having decided to run away, calling upstairs to his wife Edith only in a whisper to come with him. Herr Flick’s tango choreography was a delight, as was his dressing as an usherette in “disguise” at a cinema scene.

There were some lovely performances from everyone, and in addition to those mentioned above particular note has to be made for Edith’s (Vicki Mills) amazingly bad singing, the English agent undercover as a French Policeman (Sam Hope) with his “bad French accent” leading to some great wordplay, portrayed with deadpan conviction, the slightly camp flirtations and misunderstandings of Strohm (Martin Livesey) and last but not least Leclerc (Joey Ghinn-Morris) who pitched telling us through every disguise “it is I! Leclerc!” with superb comic timing.

Director Janine Robins clearly has much love and respect for the original TV show, and has done a really wonderful job of sharing that on this stage. The enjoyment the cast were having in sharing this production radiated to the audience and there was so much laughter and many loud guffaws throughout the show, the atmosphere was amazing. It’s the type of show to leave the audience feeling warm, happy and entertained; and that sometimes is the perfect evening out.

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