'Allo 'Allo

For her directorial debut Lisa Senior could not have had chosen a better vehicle than this play, based on Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft’s television series of the 1980s, with it being full of wonderful characters and hilarious dialogue which played to the strengths of this group of players. On a set designed and built by members of the society, the audience were transported to a typical 1940’s french cafe complete with red chequered table cloths, bar and honky-tonk piano which was easily and quickly transformed into the offices of the German occupied forces and the Gestapo headquarters allowing the action to flow freely. At the centre of the action, and acting as narrator of the story of the French Resistance’s attempts to kidnap Adolf Hitler on his visit to the town of Nouvion, was cafe owner Rene Artois played magnificently by Trevor Nicol as the character juggled running his business whilst keeping on side with both the Resistance and the German Officers and trying to keep his romantic affairs with his waitresses out of his wife’s notice! Aileen Hendry as his wife Edith gave a great comic performance as she tried to rekindle the romance in her marriage and her off-key singing in her “cabaret” number was excruciatingly funny. A good strong comic pairing were Lesley Mitchell as Resistance leader Michelle Dubois with her catchphrase “I shall say this only once” and her side-kick “policeman” Officer Crabtree with his vowel mangling franglais. Nicholas Nicol and Alan Graham as Colonel Kurt von Strohm and ladies man Captain Alberto Bertorelli respectively drew every ounce of humour from their inept attempts to recover the hidden picture of the “Madonna with the big boobies” and their impersonations of Hitler and Goering. Tom Masterton was a gloriously camp Lieutenant Hubert Gruber as he attempted to woo Rene with promises of the delights of his “little tank”. Another excellent pairing were Matthias Kremer as Gestapo officer Herr Otto Flick and Jo Galloway as his love interest Private Helga Geerhart their stilted attempts at romance were hilarious. Adding a touch of glamour to the proceedings were the sexy cafe waitresses Yvette Carte-Blanche and Mimi le Bonque played by Luna Rose and Margo Fraser. Strong support was given by David Saunders as General Von Schmelling, Andy Pyott as Monsieur Leclerc (in his terrible disguises) and by Morag Barron and Fiona Chapman as the fleeing British Airmen, German Soldiers and French villagers. This was full of laugh out loud performances which had the full house audience in stitches from start to finish. Congratulation everyone on another first class production.

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