'Allo 'Allo

The classic hit TV sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo  with its familiar characters is an attractive title for amateur societies tempting audiences with the rose-tinted memories of the marvellous original TV Ensemble cast, it offers amusement to the cast and their friends and family in seeing how close they come to recreating the well-remembered characters and their catch phrases. Crowthorne Amateur Theatrical Society rise to this challenge well with some very well executed character creations.

There are a lot of different locations to pack on the tiny stage with a very good-looking main café, a simple forestage for the German’s office and then small adjustments for Rene’s cellar and bedroom, the cinema, and the Gestapo HQ. This made for quick slick transitions between scenes.

In a politically correct world, the ten male roles and just five female ones do seem outrageously inappropriate with a script littered full of racial and gender stereotypes and lots of saucy adult innuendo but anyone who buys a ticket knows full well what to expect. It requires the cast to throw themselves into the play with full unrestrained commitment and good comic timing in the delivery of lines and reaction to them and CATS team did a very good job of tackling this challenge.

The recreation of such familiar and much-loved TV characters is a challenge, but CATS rose to that, and I suspect drew on their previous experience of staging the show in 2007 to produce a very well executed show which paid homage to the original. It was an enjoyable amusing evening that would have benefited from a little more stage space and the cast’s comic timing will undoubtedly sharpen as they get used to the audience reactions.

 

 

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