Allo Allo

 

'What a great start to the season for the Attfield Theatre with possibly one of the most difficult productions for any amateur theatre to stage ‘Allo Allo’, a well-loved and iconic television classic.  The show is predominantly set around everyone trying to get their hands on the priceless painting of The Fallen Madonna with the big boobies by Van Klomp, which is cleverly concealed during the opening scene. The production is challenging due to the complexity of the many set changes, the timing of the comic innuendo, the variety of accents and of course the characterisation of some very recognisable characters.

I could hear the excitement in the auditorium from the audience and knew from the packed house that this had been an eagerly awaited production. I was greeted by a lovely programme seller upon arrival, dressed in a Macintosh and berry setting the scene for the antics of the evening. The sounds of Marlene Dietrich were played as a background accompaniment and the audience took their first glimpse of Café Rene and war torn France.

Michalea Turner had done an excellent job in selecting and directing her cast. Mark Lord played the pivotal character of René and what a great job he made of it. A demanding role with very little time off stage and plenty of stamina required to maintain the momentum of the production. Mark instantly engaged with the audience and I could hear whispers of ‘doesn’t he look like him’ as soon as he arrived on stage.

Kath Evans as Edith was just super, her unashamed singing of ‘Boum Boom’ was beautifully out of key and I didn’t know if to laugh or cry. Her comic timing, reactions to other characters and facial expressions are always great to watch. She also had amazing shoes perfect for the period and style of the show.

Debbie Jones as Yvette and India Watson as Mimi the waitresses embraced their characters with many hilarious scenes. Grace Turner was excellent as the resistance leader Michelle and her changes of accents were spot on.  Malcolm Lord never disappoints and as Monsieur Leclerc his professionalism of performance and sense of fun in the character engaged the audience immediately.

Jamie Evans took on the role of Officer Crabtree, a role that requires great skill in mispronouncing the pseudo French language throughout the course of the production, whilst at the same time maintaining an English inflection. I thought Jamie handled the level of difficulty well, although from time to time the audience did have difficulty in hearing some of the punch lines. The scene producing the hidden sausage was completed with perfect timing and plenty of naughtiness, much to the delight of the audience.

John Neilson played Colonel Kurt Von Strohm and made the part his own, I wasn’t sure about the extra padding used in his costume to create his character which appeared more to hinder than to assist. I particular enjoyed the comic humour involved with the wearing of the ‘wiglit’!

Captain Alberto Bertorelli is a great character played by the very capable Wayne Young who through himself into the role with great verve.

The camp Lieutenant Gruber was played by John Kinsey much to the hilarity of the audience who drifted occasionally into a more sinister and creepy character than I was expecting.

General Von Schmelling was played by Jake Baker another reliable performance and aged suitably for the role.

Nick Chesters was great as the self-obsessed comic psychopath that is Herr Otto Flick and his disguise as the Ice-cream seller was a particular highlight of the evening. Cast opposite him was Francesca Fox-Roberts as Helga, completely unrecognisable from her programme photo and another great addition to the cast,

Cai Williams, Rob Bound and Debs Watson completed the cast as the British Airman, Solider, Peasants and of course ‘Nature loving Norma’. And of course I must mention the Voice of the Cockatoo played by Stage Manager Andrew Turner.

The set design and construction for this production was clever, fold out walls and a drop down bed that all revealed hidden doors, windows, flags and maps that just appeared to have changed behind the scenes, leaving me wondering ‘how did they do that’. This greatly assisted in distracting the audience to the volume of scenes changes required and helped with maintaining the overall pace that the show needs to keep going. I even liked the added details of the French signs and the mouse on the shelf in the pantry.

My only disappointment of the evening were the fitting of some of the military uniforms that appeared oversized for some of the performers and the continuity of disguises when at the end everyone was disguised as either Hitler or Goering.

There is so much hard work that has gone into this production, which needs to be recognised and a great effort by everyone who has been involved both on stage, behind the scenes and front of house. Well done to all at Attfield Theatre, looking forward to your next production.

 

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