Blackadder II

This was a real trip down memory lane for me at the Norbury, as the Players staged an adaptation of three episodes from the classic BBC comedy Blackadder II.  I watched this programme countless times back in the day, and watching this staging the memories came flooding back – so much so that I probably could have stood in for the actors at times!

So we were treated to ‘Bells’ (the one in which Blackadder falls in love with his manservant ‘Bob’, only to see her stolen away by the bombastic Lord Flashheart); ‘Potato’ (the one where Sir Walter Raleigh returns to England and Edmund tries to impress the Queen with a voyage of his own); and ‘Chains’ (the one where Blackadder and Melchett are kidnapped by the dastardly master of disguise, Prince Ludwig).  This last one brought the evening to a close, and was thankfully missing the coda from the TV show in which Ludwig murders the entire court, which always left me feeling rather uncomfortable!

Zach Price starred as Edmund Blackadder, with very clear nods to Rowan Atkinson’s iconic performance in his characterisation, both vocally and physically - even down to the permanent sneer that seemed etched on Edmund’s face.  It must be hard to know how to approach a role such as this – do you try and do your own thing and risk alienating the audience, or do you edge closer towards an impersonation of the original?  Zach chose a path that was closer to the latter, and it paid off as a stream of very well delivered lines were lapped up by an appreciative audience. 

Christopher Newbould brought a lot of physical humour to his performance as the hapless Lord Percy, whilst still maintaining an edge of melancholy to the character.  Interestingly, the role of Blackadder’s put-upon manservant Baldrick, made famous of course by Tony Robinson, was played by a female performer – Ellie Higgerson.  Before the performance I did wonder how well this would work, especially as ‘Bells’ opens with lots of references to Baldrick’s – ahem – privates, but Ellie pulled it off superbly.  So much so that I quickly forgot the gender of the performer, only seeing the male character that she embodied so effectively.

At Court, Vicky Moloney gave us an interesting interpretation of Queen Elizabeth – moving away a little bit from the childlike stylings of Miranda Richardson (although they were still there, in the background), and giving the character a more regal, authoritative air.  Alongside her (literally) was Jan Miller-Weir as the marvellously eccentric Nursie, in a very funny performance which absolutely did justice to the character (Jan also doubled as a nicely unhinged Wisewoman).  Completing their triumvirate was Michael Treagust as Lord Melchett, who really came into his own during the final ‘episode’, as his unfortunate relationship with ‘Flossie’ was revealed!

The principals were well supported by the rest of the cast, many of whom filled multiple roles very effectively.  Alisha James got us off to a strong start as Kate/Bob, opening the show with a very funny scene in which her father (Colin Potter, also doubling as one of Ludwig’s guards) begged her to ‘go on the game’!  James Dean made the most of three gifts as Flashheart, Walter Raleigh and Prince Ludwig – in particular bringing a great maniacal edge to the latter.  Christopher de Val Gaunt also impressed as an appropriately OTT Captain Redbeard Rum (wheeled around the stage in a ship’s bow-cum-wheelchair contraption), as well as delivering a couple of nice cameos as Doctor Leech and an incomprehensible torturer.  Rounding out the cast was Joanna Edwards as the Young Crone and also a Guard who came to an amusingly painful end!

Perhaps there were one or two further opportunities that could have been taken to use the ensemble, for example by performing the songs that open and close each episode.  I also wondered whether the occasional voice-over informing us of time passing could have been delivered onstage rather than through the speakers?  Nevertheless, the show was capably directed by Alex Stallard and his assistant Beth Smith, who very effectively recreated some of the iconic moments from this classic comedy. 

There was a very nice set showing Edmund’s house – well conceived and constructed – with a number of movable sections that were used to create Queen Elizabeth’s court and the various other locations required by the story.  The scenery changes were smoothly handled by an efficient backstage team, but the sheer number of them did slow the action down from time to time – especially as some of the scene were very short (betraying the show’s origin as a TV programme.)

Costume, so important to delivering a show like this effectively, was very good – I was particularly impressed with Ludwig’s cow-based disguise towards the end – it was important to the story that this looked good, and it did.  Not sure about Nursie’s effort, though! 

Well done to all at the Norbury – Blackadder II was a clearly a show that was both popular and well received by its audience.  And thanks for providing me with a most entertaining evening of comic nostalgia.  Huzzah!

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