'Allo 'Allo

The strains of French Café music and the buzz of an expectant full house audience was a wonderful introduction to a very enjoyable evening. It is not easy to take a well loved television series, with so many clearly defined characters and put it on a small stage in a tiny theatre, but that is exactly what this Society did and very well too. Every member of the sixteen strong cast, headed by Richard Knowles (Rene), played their character totally straight with just enough inflections and mannerisms to be instantly recognisable without being an impersonation; therefore every ounce of humour and innuendo was gained from the delightfully written script. Accents, clearly French, German, Italian, or RAF English spoken with good diction making every word understandable, especially Policeman Crabtree, the sexy Yvette and the very clipped Herr Flick.   The home made set, design, décor and props were excellent, particularly a clock on the wall which swung open to reveal the hidden British airmen, lighting and sound effects too were good and we even got to see the painting of the Fallen Madonna with the !!!!  Costumes and uniform styles were authentic to the TV show with good attention to detail like seams in stockings.   This was a debut production for Emma and a fitting welcome to many new faces to this Society easily integrating with long standing members Alyson (Edith), Liam (Gruber) and Graham (Schmelling). Thank you John for your warm hospitality and everyone for so many laughs in one evening.

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