Dad's Army

When I received an invitation from Water Lane Theatre Company to review their production of “Dad’s Army” (with a difference!) I wondered what could be going on. I soon discovered they were planning to cast the ladies as the principal characters and the gentlemen would play the female roles required of the script. Would this work?  That was the question I posed myself when we took our seats.

The wind band playing music of the period as the audience entered the auditorium was a nice welcoming touch.

The Home Guard volunteers in the fictional town of Walmington-on-Sea have been around in one media form or another for almost 50 years and their popularity shows no signs of waning. Repeats are still being aired and to loyal followers they are as fresh today as when they were first broadcast.  So could the ladies of Water Lane really pull it off and convince us they are as good as any man?

There were some terrific performances.  Corrina Graham-Hodson was quite amazing as Pte. Walker.  The walk, the talk, every characteristic, it was all there. Kerry Wheeler was Pike in every way except gender.  The facial expressions and mannerisms were absolutely right and of course, the scarf!  Very well done to both.

Others that stood out were Rachel Leung as Pte. Frazer complete with just the right Scottish accent, Amanda Green as Lc. Cpl. Jones the butcher, with more than a passing interest in Mrs Fox and Pat Bastin as Pte. Godfrey.  All gave great performances and really lived their characters. 

Well done also to Billie Kerr as Sgt. Wilson. A nice portrayal, the laid back approach being spot on and to Pam Johnson-Cook as ARP Hodges. Captain Mainwaring is of course the main character and Joanna Heath carried the part very well. Her voice was a little lacking in authority but apart from that, very well done.   

Doug Sheppard as the U-Boat Captain deserves a mention here.  A very good portrayal of this rather obnoxious character.  Some good acting also from Andy Roberts as Mrs Fox and from Penny Reeves as both the Colonel and Town Clerk, Mr. Gordon. Michael Beaven did a great job as femme fatale Mrs Gray.  Very well played. Although for me these performances stood out, there were others too numerous to mention and as is to be expected from a Society of this calibre, there were no weak links.

The set was excellent, the familiar church hall with Captain Mainwaring’s office stage right. The absence of an internal wall enabled the audience to keep up with the comings and goings from outside and between the hall and office. The use of the apron as a café worked well, as did the platform scene played out at audience level, with puffs of smoke being emitted from beneath the stage giving the impression one was on a platform.   Unfortunately there were rather a lot of blackouts which was a shame as they tend to affect the pace of the show and a comedy, especially, can suffer as a result.  Maybe some of these were called for in the script and were therefore unavoidable.

So did the role reversal work?  In amateur theatre it is often said that we sometimes have to work with what we’ve got.  What Water Lane has is a group of excellent female performers, who were willing to rise to the challenge of playing these iconic male characters. They knew they had to get them just right because if they didn’t, it was sure to be noticed.  Under the direction of Granville Rush, the cast produced a show they can be justifiably proud of.  

Very well done to all involved and thank you for inviting me.

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