Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 18 May 2009

'Allo 'Allo (photo - Robert Workman)

‘ALLO ‘ALLO is an essentially British sitcom despite the fact that it is set in wartime France. The humour comes direct from the kind of seaside postcards that were sent home from Blackpool a generation ago. Sausages feature highly in the comic material of the play. There are a great many references to boobies and hardly a minute goes by without cast members finding themselves in compromising positions involving suspender belts and unlikely explanations.

The play is a straight adaptation of the TV sitcom that began twenty five years ago and if you had not seen the original TV show you might have been a little bemused by the bizarre world inhabited by the play.

It was clear that most of the audience were already devotees and right from the opening scene they responded enthusiastically. Every catch phrase from the original sitcom was greeted with applause as was the entrance of familiar characters including Vicki Michelle who played the sex starved waitress with an endearing enthusiasm.

She is the only original member of the TV show to appear in the stage adaptation and she seemed completely at home with the character.

Translating a half hour show from TV and transplanting it on to the stage where it has to hold the attention of an audience for two acts of fifty minutes is no mean feat, but writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft have accomplished this admirably.

Whilst the plot line could easily have been taken direct from the TV show, it made the transition to the stage with ease, and there was enough pace and humour to keep the show entertaining throughout. To be fair the plot was something of an irrelevance as it was largely a vehicle for endless double entendres, the dropping of trousers and a sprinkling of flashed suspenders. All of which kept the audience happily chortling throughout the show.

As café owner Rene Artois, Jeffrey Holland put in an excellent performance, acting as the anchor for the whole show. His gentle charm quickly endeared him to the audience and his frequent asides to the almost capacity crowd kept us up to date with the breakneck plot.

With a cast of 15 the show could easily have descended away from the farce it was intended to be and into a less entertaining chaos with a gaggle of actors shouting at each other on stage. This danger was cleverly avoided by this highly professional and well rehearsed cast, with skilled direction by Robert Carson.

James Rasson put in an energetic and compelling performance as the robotic Herr Flick and his hilarious dance routine was one of the highlights of the show. Corinna Marlowe, as Rene’s long suffering wife, was brilliantly comedic as she sang her out of tune cabaret and provided Rene with his straight man, or should that be straight woman.

If you were hoping for a treatise on the human condition or were yearning for a savage satirical take on life and love, you would be disappointed. However, if you were looking for a great night of entertainment in the safe hands of an accomplished cast and team of writers then your ticket price would have been well spent.

‘Allo ‘Allo does exactly what it says on the tin – it brings the TV show to life on the stage in a show that is simple yet hugely entertaining. Sometimes it is good to go to the theatre simply to be entertained and not provoked or challenged and that is just what this show does.

So put on your comfortable trousers, have fish and chips on the way to the theatre. Go on, just for once ignore the warnings about cholesterol and the politically correct edicts about laughing at foreigners and enjoy this light hearted romp that has the good sense not to take itself all that seriously.

‘Allo ‘Allo runs at Eden Court until 23 May 2009.

© John Burns, 2009

Links

• Eden Court Theatre
• John Burns at Purple Comedy