Dad's Army

On arriving at the Norbury Theatre I was greeted by members of the Norbury Players in period dress which quickly set the scene for the evening’s entertainment. I have always loved Dad’s Army and was looking forward to the selected synopses of the TV productions but I was not prepared for the uncanny likenesses of the actors on stage. It was almost as if they had morphed into the much loved and missed TV personalities. Of course this made me hyper critical of their portrayals but I was not disappointed.

Clever use of the stage, which was split between Captain Mainwaring’s office and the Hall itself, meant that you sometimes needed two pairs of eyes. The space overall was well used, particularly in the Morris dancing scene, which was hilarious.

Ian Thompson as Captain Mainwaring was commanding and had the audience cheering when he said his first ‘you stupid boy’ with exactly the right inflection. James Colishaw had John Le Messier’s mannerisms as Sgt Wilson off to a tee as did Graham Taylor as the bumbling Lance Corporal Jones, Brian Gater as Godfrey, Steve Carley as Walker and Mathew Jeffrey as Pike. If you had closed your eyes you could have been forgiven for thinking that the original Private Frazer was with us as Tam Weir was so convincing with his interpretation of him and his ‘We’re all doomed’ rendition. As for Glynis Smith as Mrs Fox, I would defy anyone not to think she was the real thing.

Of course this was as a result of hard work, constant rehearsals and the attention to detail to emulate the original programmes and its characters. The costumes were amazing and so was the authentic hairstyles and makeup which worked so well.  Other characters that stood out were Keith Barrell as the U-Boat Captain, Dave Fuller as Warden Hodges, Paul Robinson as Mr Yeatman and Anne Lane as Mrs Gray and they were well supported by everyone else.

It was a slick performance throughout and the inclusion of members of the forever 40’s to add light entertainment to cover scene changes was a delightful touch. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening so thank you Norbury Players for inviting me.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.