May 1, 2014 at 9:27 p.m.
‘Allo, ‘Allo - a resounding ‘magnifique!’
‘Allo, ‘Allo - a resounding ‘magnifique!’
This hilarious romp — covering the chase for the priceless portrait of “the Madonna with the Big Boobies” hidden in a sausage — hung off the talent of this actor.
The only other time I saw him lead on stage was at Famous For Fifteen Minutes and his sole line, I believe, was ‘Banana’. Not much to go on.
But this performance couldn’t have been done better by anyone else I have seen in a BMDS show before, not least for the physical resemblance.
He was every bit as jaded as the original and as resigned to the fact that he could probably be done for at any given moment either by the invading Nazis or one of the various women he frolicks with behind the others’ backs.
Not only did he perfect the French accent he captured the nonchalant demeanour with it. ‘Allo, ‘Allo is gifted with a saucy, sharp-witted script and Angiers delivered it flawlessly.
He also struck up a good rapport with the audience — when he addressed us during his mini dialogues, it felt as if we were sitting together at the bar chatting over a good French beer.
Chris Jones, as the extrovertly gay Nazi Lieutenant Gruber, was absolutely hilarious.
He constantly wore on his face either a look of devious promiscuity in the presence of the male characters or utter disgust when in close proximity to the female.
This was the first time I had seen Justine Foster on stage. She did a fantastic job as the amorous waitress Yvette and mastered the dirtily delivered “Grrrrenay!” (René).
Jo Shane made a fun Edith Artois, wife of René — the only complaint would be the placid cabaret performance with the two waitresses — it was intended to be badly performed but would have been more entertaining if it was big and bad.
A good comedy moment was lost here. Others to mention were the young Damon Rosati as the spunky Captain Bertorelli — the 16-year-old brought the stage to life with his infectious over enthusiasm. Emma Muggleton excelled as the shifty spy de la Resistance — delivering well many of the classic lines known to ‘Allo, ‘Allo fans: “Listen very carefully… I shall say this only once’, and “I will disappear like a phantom into the night.”
The play was very well cast — who could have performed the bumbling Crabtree better than Alan Brooks?
And whose military glare could be more intimidating than Adam Gauntlett’s in the role of Herr Otto Flick?
The custom made costumes were convincing and included Helga’s sexily embroidered swastika suspender belt.
Props were impressive too — in particular, the sausage was used to full effect.
Sexual innuendoes were rife and had me giggling throughout the show. None of it could have been done without the expertise of a good director so hats off to Nicola Flood.
This production featured a truly beautiful set — one of the best I have seen in this little theatre — executed by the seemingly multi-talented director Nicola Flood and Martin Biffin.
From the Chat Noir hanging on the wall and the string of onions to the beautiful genuine brass till and dark wood bar.
What would have topped off the authenticity for me would be more fake smoke — the patrons were smoking E-Cigarettes but they just don’t produce the plumes needed for a little French nook like René’s Café.
Somehow the beautiful bar could be whisked away in an instant between scenes and the set would be transformed into a cold, concrete Nazi office.
This is no average BMDS production — anyone with a naughty sense of humour will enjoy it — a resounding “magnifique!”
‘Allo, ‘Allo continues until May 10. Tickets available by calling 292-0848.
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