Dad's Army

It is always a gamble when a society chooses to produce a play which has been seen by thousands on TV who will know and love the characters taking part. This will mean not only do you have to have actors who can act the various characters of the play but are able to do it and mimic the ones we see in the TV programme.

Brighouse Theatre Productions’ director, Damien Shalks knew he would have his job cut out in selecting the right actors for the roles and who would be able to not only look the part but also be able to act the part well, well he need not be worried as here Damien was able to select some first-rate actors to fill the parts.

The play was split into three sections which were: Deadly Attachment, Mum’s Army and The Floral Dance where the actors were able to show off their vocal prowess.

The part of Mainwaring was in the more than capable hands of Leighton Hirst who was able to deliver the goods in a first-rate manner, not only did he look the part, but he had all the mannerisms and idiosyncrasies that the original one had on TV. Playing the part of Wilson was Andrew McDermot who was able to show off his “upper crust image” especially when speaking to Mainwaring and trying to get the upper hand, which he frequently did.

I think everyone who has ever watched Dad’s Army will know and love Jones, the bumbling but lovable character played by Clive Dunn, Richard Hunt was able to help us relive all the moments and capture his ways perfectly.

In the younger of the characters Elliot Austin took on the part of Pike who was never quite sure what his mother would say when asked to do something. It almost brought the house down when he was asked his name by the Germans to which Mainwaring replied the famous line “Don’t Tell them, Pike!”

Sean Brennan had the job of playing Frazer, the Scottish undertaker who was always on the look out for work and not only did he look the part but was able to keep his accent up and character all the way through the action, not easy when others are using different accents to you.

Martin Walker captured the lovable but slightly senile character of Godfrey, usually wanting to go to the bathroom during parade and never knowing quite what was happening throughout the piece.

I think everyone will know Walker, the spiv who was always on the look out to make some money by whichever way he could, here Pete Forsyth was able to capture everything about him especially in looks.

These are the main characters of the piece who are all well known to those of us old enough to have seen them the first time round on TV, but Brighouse TP are fortunate enough to have other actors who were able to fill the other parts too. The Colonel was played superbly by Ian Stead, each time bringing Mainwaring down a peg or two by mispronouncing his name.

The Germans were in the very capable hands of Jeremy Shoesmith as the U-Boat Captain together with Jim Butler and Joe Spence as the U-Boat Mariners. There were also some great cameo parts in Sponge, Hodges and The Verger played by Rob Simpson, Roy Greenwood and Philip Roberts respectively, all adding to the enjoyment.

This piece is very “male heavy” in terms of characters but there were some really good characters coming through from the ladies on stage, I loved Mrs Gray played endearingly by Margaret Hallatt, I could well imagine her in Brief Encounter. It was a really tender moment when she met Mainwaring in the café and then at the train station when she decided to return to London.

There are many other smaller parts in this play which are too many to mention but suffice to say each and every one of them only added to the enjoyment of this very entertaining piece.

It was also great to see the other members of Brighouse TP working front of house in costume of the day with flags, bunting and posters on the walls too. Well done and congratulations to everyone involved. 

 

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