Allo Allo

Director: Elliot Montgomery   Assistant Director: Danny Hastie 

Performing any well known and loved television series is not easy, especially when the characters are so much loved and defined, and the audience expect the actors to represent these characters in every way. We knew this was going to be funny, with all the double entendres and innuendos and the performance did not disappoint in any way. Great direction by Elliot Montgomery and the set was excellent, representing the café to a T.

The play follows the well-known story of the painting of the Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies by Van Klomp. Added to this is a plot to blow up Hitler who is rumoured to be coming to René’s café. René is also trying to juggle his life around the French Resistance, the German military, his wife Edith, Yvette, Mimi and all the other characters who invade his café and make his life more complicated.  

A strong cast of fifteen actors, all giving confident performances and working very well together, ensured that this was very good production. It was obvious from the beginning that a lot of hard work had gone into it, creating the mannerisms and accents to match the well-known characters and with very good timing to ensure that none of the funny lines were missed.

Richard Wilshaw gave an amazing performance as René Artois with accent and characterisation exactly matching the TV series. Edith (Karen Powell), Yvette (Yvette Sayles) and Mimi (Debbie Evans) were the three ladies in René’s life, and each loved and wanted to run away with him. They were superb in their roles and delivered their saucy lines perfectly. The copious amount of dialogue flowed easily. As Michelle of the Resistance Jude Gray played the role perfectly, delivering the famous line “I shall only say this once”, which to this day always makes everyone laugh. Likewise, the antics and accent of Officer Crabtree (Jack O’Boyle) was first class with the difficult act of mispronunciation of what he thought was good French.

Members of the German military all wanted the famous painting and were a constant thorn in René’s side. Giving terrific performances, complete with very good accents and characterisations, were Fiona Broadhead as Helga Geerhart and Danny Hastie as Herr Flick (complete with limp). Showing no facial emotion at all, even when Helga gave him a kiss, David Mitchell’s Colonel Kurt von Strohm, was great – I loved the wiglet.

Shaun McHale’s performance of the larger-than-life Italian Captain Alberto Bertorelli, who “loved the laydees”, was spot-on. Likewise, Dan Fisher as the flamboyant Lieutenant Gruber who also had “feelings” for René. Then there was General von Schmelling and no one went up against him. A fine piece of acting from Stephen Hepworth. 

To complete the mayhem in René’s café, we have of course Monsieur (“It is I”) Leclerc in his many disguises, all played splendidly by Roger Green. Not forgetting the two British airmen perfectly played by Tony Carver and Roger Hazelwood.

Congratulations to Elliot, Danny, the cast, and everyone involved in this very good production.  I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and, like the rest of the audience, was in fits of laughter. Thank you for the invite.

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.