Blackadder

This production is based on the TV series of the same name, taking certain episodes and transposing them onto the stage. At present there are a number of these doing the rounds, Dad`s Army, Fawlty Towers and Allo Allo to name but a few, reminding us of those halcyon days when comedy was in fact, something to be laughed at.

The three episodes performed were Major Star, General Hospital and Goodbyeee.

Major Star

If Blackadder can arrange a successful morale raising concert party, he can leave the trenches for the West End. He manages this in spite of.Baldrick`s Charlie Chaplin impersonation. But there is one small problem-General Melchett has fallen for the leading lady Gorgeous Georgina, who happens to be Lt. George in drag. Melchett proposes to “Georgina”, so Blackadder spins a yarn about Georgina being killed whilst dancing through a minefield after the ball, ending his chances of getting away from the trenches.

General Hospital

Whilst in hospital, George befriends a nurse, Nurse Mary and Mr Smith a highly suspicious chap with a German accent. Blackadder is informed by Melchett that there is a spy in the hospital, and that he is the man to find out who it is. After interrogating Captain Darling, and getting to know Nurse Mary better, Blackadder concludes that Nurse Mary is indeed the spy and sends her off to face the firing squad. It is at this point, we find that it was, in fact George who was the spy-inadvertently sending informative letters to his Uncle Herman in Munich.

Goodbyeee.

 The command to go “over the top” has been given, and the only way out of it is to stick two pencils up your nose and your underpants on your head in an attempt to show you`re mad- unfortunately the penalty for pretending to be mad is death by firing squad.

Darling is sent to join the others for the final push, in what I feel was the best written, funniest and yet most poignant of the Blackadder series. All hopes of a reprieve now gone, the four make their way over the trench into no man`s land……  

 Taking on any of these is going to be a challenge to any society-whilst it will generally guarantee an audience, it is not without risks- the main one being that the audience usually know the source material (sometimes better than the cast) and have an affinity with the characters who they have grown up with and cherish their time spent “with” them.

I would think that the assumption is that tried and tested TV comedies would be easy to do, as you know where the laughs are going to be and all you have to do is deliver the lines. Not-so, as these have generally been written with specific performers in mind, whose delivery is taken into account by the writers, before even putting pen to paper.

With this in mind, it`s always interesting to see how a group manage to cope with these.

 Gary Cross had the unenviable task of emulating Rowan Atkinson`s Captain Blackadder- Electing not to vocally try to copy the TV character but mimicking his mannerisms to a tee, an incredibly difficult part well played.

Lou Wareing as Baldrick looked right and carried off the child-like innocence and stupidity of the character

Steve Dobson made a brilliant George, the incompetent upper class buffoon, completely unaware of the horrifying reality of their situation until the end. Steve`s cheery enthusiasm was a joy, with timing to match.

John Xerri was great as the bombastic General Melchett, and Colin Taylor was every bit his equal as Captain Darling, erroneously believing he would be protected come the big push, only to be sold out in the end.

Caitlin Bibby made a wonderful “Bob”, and was equally adept in her role of Nurse Mary- impeccable timing and delivery, well done.

George Richardson and Barrie Mason as Mr Smith and Field Marshall Haigh brought up the rear with performances befitting the rest of the production.

The set was excellent- great use of the floorspace  for scenes external to the trenches, and good lighting to match.

With a TV series, where everything can be edited to the nth degree, it is effortless to change scenes from one to another – not so on stage, with blackouts to depict scene endings, and a few seconds (sometimes more) wait whilst the performers get into position/ redress. Whilst not detracting from the production, there were quite a few of these long pauses. That said, if I`m honest I can`t see how they could have made the scene changes run any quicker without it being detrimental to the piece.

Effective use of both projector and screen and the thought provoking final tableau behind the gauze gave a fitting ending to the production.

Congratulations Garstang Theatre Group, and thank you for your hospitality.

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