'Allo 'Allo

‘Allo ‘Allo’ needs little introduction, except maybe to younger audience members. It exploded onto our screens in the early 80s, and we all fell in love with those fabulous characters. That was in the days when the whole family watched tv together, and many of us will have fond memories of our parents and grandparents laughing away at these crazy antics.

This production is the original stage show that ran from 1986-1992, including 3 London stage runs. It was written of course by those legendary script writers, Croft and Lloyd, who had previously delighted with Dad’s Army among others.

A tall order, one would think, for Grayshott Stagers to pull this off. So many characters, all those accents, would this work? Well it certainly did, we had the most brilliant evening in Grayshott’s charming and roomy village hall.

The set was super. The café bar looked very authentic, with shelves behind holding glasses, a tureen, flowers and of course bottles. The blue and white checked tablecloths were very pretty. There were stairs in the centre of the set which led upstairs to the bedrooms, so we had scenes with Edith’s mother and with Edith and Rene in bed, once a curtain had been pulled across to reveal them. Set changes were slick. Rene’s cellar contained hanging hams, and crates. Herr Flick’s Gestapo HQ had a painting of Hitler and some swastika medallions on the wall. Colonel von Strohm’s office was quite comfortable. There were many hilarious props, including M. Leclerc’s parrot-salesman’s contraption which delivered the cockatoo radio in an elaborate cage. There were the 2 Knockwursts, the painting of the Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies, Mama’s huge ear trumpet, a blow-up Hitler and many more besides.

The Stagers had gone to great trouble to get the costumes just right. Yvette and Mimi’s maids’ outfits were perfect, and Yvette at one stage had the most marvellously large pearl necklace. Edith’s dresses were of their time, and her cabaret costume of long satin dress, long gloves and feathered headdress was fabulous. All those uniforms too! Captain Bertorelli’s head gear was fun, flamboyantly feathered of course. The English airmen looked the part. Helga had the sexy red and black underwear and fishnet stockings. Herr Flick had his long black leather coat. Officer Crabtree looked dashing in his gendarme’s uniform. It was all there!

Lighting and sound were very effective throughout.

The first thing to say is how delightful it was to arrive at the hall to the accompaniment of music from the 4-piece band Leakin’ Lentils, consisting of two guitars, a clarinet and of course an accordion.

They drew a great chuckle when they launched into the famous theme tune as the curtain rose onto Rene’s café.  At another point the accordionist was playing up on the stage. They accompanied the scene changes with suitably French melodies, Frere Jacques at one point, if I remember correctly, and many more. Their music added such a lot to the success of the evening, in my opinion.

The main protagonists, Rene Artois and his wife Edith were played magnificently by Joe White and Susie Gow, their charisma and comic timing were perfect, and Susie Gow made a marvellous job of singing out of tune! Yvette and Mimi (Caroline Thompson and Clemency Bray) were also great, so Café Artois came alive again in Grayshott, with this terrific team.

Michelle from the Resistance kept popping up of course in various disguises – at one time she was an astonishingly flamboyantly attired lady of the night! Laura Musco enjoyed herself in this role. Trevor Woods was a suitably dim M. Leclerc, interrupting at all the most inconvenient moments.

It was delightful to find a great mix of Italian and German military men. David Impiazzi (as Bertorelli), Paul Allum (Col von Strohm), Steve Hart (as General von Schmelling) were all very good, with marvellous accents and amply supplied with cheese to plug their ears as Edith entertained. Brezetta Thonger made a fine Helga, and flirted well with Herr Flick (David Gow) who impressed with his violin playing and his very odd attempt at a tango.

One of the most impressive figures, to my mind, was Lieutenant Gruber. A perfect performance from Antony Mee, who captured all the gentle nuances of this lovestruck fellow, with just the right accent, facial expressions and body language. He didn’t overdo the camp gestures, but was just right.

If I have one regret, it is that we didn’t see that much of the British airmen, who looked and sounded great. I would have enjoyed seeing a bit more of them, but the plot didn’t allow, nor the time – this production was convoluted enough with plot twist after plot twist. Officer Crabtree (Richard Ashton) was much in evidence though, and great fun.

Buff Cooper is to be congratulated for, above all else, having the courage to put this production on, with its huge and fine cast, tremendous number of scenes, and rapid tempo.  In his Director’s Note, he thanks his Production Manager Laura Musco (Michelle from the Resistance incidentally), who ‘kept all those many plates from crashing to the floor’. The whole team must be congratulated also on their amazing accents, their energy and their comic timing.

Your audience had a tremendous evening of fun and laughter. Thank you, Grayshott Stagers.

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.