Gillian Jackson as Edith and Dennis Burns as Rene Artois keep the laughs coming in Gadoc’s ’Allo ’Allo, currently at Beau Sejour. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0552934)
Edith Piaf’S shrill voice could be heard warbling in the background as the audience filled the Beau Sejour theatre on Monday.
The drapes were open to reveal the interior of Rene’s cafe in the fictional village of Nouvion.
With the twilight shining through the doors, the gingham cloth and the round tables, the tone was ideally set for German-occupied France.
And then the proprietor appeared.
Dennis Burns, who also co-directed the comedy with Jane Blower, excelled in the role of Rene Artois. Dennis’s portrayal of the hapless cafe owner seemed effortless. You could almost see the world weighing heavily on his shoulders as he contemplates having to hide two British airmen in his cellar, a priceless painting secreted in a sausage and his secret canoodlings with waitresses Yvette and Mimi. Let’s face it, the Frenchman’s got a lot on his plate.
There was ample opportunity for the other cast members to raise chuckles from the script as they shrugged and mugged their way through the countless mishaps and double entendres.
As with many of Gadoc’s ensemble pieces, the casting is spot on. Who better to play Crabtree (the English spy posing as a French police officer with his catch-phrase, ‘Good moaning!’) than the capable Dean Hollingsworth? Neil Taylor as stiff-lipped Gestapo officer Herr Flick was excellent, as was Gillian Jackson as Rene’s long-suffering wife, Edith, to mention just a few.
Stephanie Andrijasevic as Helga, Michael Sproule as the Colonel and Stephen Bougourd as Captain Bertorelli
The convoluted plot twisted and turned with inevitable cliche after cliche, all lapped up by the capacity audience, with the ubiquitous German sausage almost taking a starring role itself.
The relentless barrage of innuendo can seem tiresome on the small screen after a while, but was made better by being able to see the reactions of the cast, be they deadpan or expressive. The obvious jokes that you can see coming a mile off can, in the right hands, be given a fresh spin.
The detail in the costume and set design was superb. A lot of work had gone into what, on the surface, appeared to be great fun to put on.
An ideal antidote to the recent inclement weather, book your ticket now, although you’ll be lucky if there are any seats left.
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5 Article Comments
Absolutely superb, scene changing was a little slow and Evette and Mimi not quite there but all in all a great show thank you GADOC
Brilliant. A great night out. We are so lucky to have such talent and dedication to providing live entertainment of this quality in our island.
I thought the scene changing was spot on, went on last night, havnt laughed so much for a long time! the scenes with the “blow up Hitler” and pump and Hubert and Crabtree was superb. As a follow on from “Dads Army”, what can we expect next? Even the 2 airmen played their parts well.
Many thanks for a great evening’s entertainment.
Can’t comment on the live show as I am some distance from your little island but received the DVD a beautifully produced and professional item, I recommend it’s purchase (I incidentally paid nothing as it was a gift from my bro). A very funny show…wish I’d been there.
I Wanted to see it But i missed all the shows.
