Review - ‘Allo ‘Allo!
Date Reviewed: 17th December, 2008
Venue: The Lowry (Quays Theatre)
Writers David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd have managed the difficult feat of creating a light entertainment show based in wartime France that does not cause offence.
‘Allo ‘Allo! is set in a kind of alternate reality where all the characters, regardless of their race or motivation, have one thing in common - they all seem to be idiots.
Michelle (Alison Darling), the female resistance fighter, and Crabtree (Matt Jamie) are undoubtedly brave. Yet Michelle’s disguises attract rather than dispel attention and Crabtree is comically incapable of speaking French. The Germans are less concerned with conquest than with nicking as much loot as possible to ensure an easy life whatever the outcome of the war.
The characters’ actions revolve around the cafe owned by Rene Artois (Peter Alexander). He plays a dangerous game by assisting the resistance by hiding two British airmen and also helps the occupiers by concealing their loot (which he hopes to steal for himself). Even more risky he is two (or is it three) - timing his wife (Carol Ann Crawford) via affairs with his resistance bodyguard (Claire Andreadis) and his waitress (Tina Harris). Rene’s complex life is made more dangerous when it is rumoured that a high profile visitor may call in the cafe.
‘Allo ‘Allo! is not the sort of play which requires much in the way of characterisation, as the farcical elements take hold, giving the audience plenty to laugh at. The actors, though move the story along and draw a high level of humour from the use of outrageous accents.
Having said this, Robin Sebastian provides Gruber with an almost reptilian charm. The pairing of Nell Jerram, as the robotic Helga, with James Rossman, as the psychotic and notorious Herr Flick, is inspired. The couple’s tango (and Rossman’s solo in particular) is a comic highpoint. Peter Alexander’s interpretation of Rene is a little more subdued and a more desperate, less resigned, type of performance might have been more appropriate to the farcical elements of the plot.
This restrained approach may reflect the influence of James Robert Carson whose subtle direction draws out the characterisation and ensures regular warm chuckles throughout the show but does not exploit those moments when it should really take off. The result being that the end Act One falls a bit flat.
The conclusion, whereby joke piles upon joke, feels slightly too rushed. The occasional pause between events might have had greater impact by tricking the audience into thinking that the sequence has ended before another surprise comes along.
Despite these minor flaws, ‘Allo ‘Allo! is one of the more successful adaptations from TV screen to stage. The producers have ensured that the audience are given the catch phrases that satisfy the need for familiarity, whilst providing enough new material to justify leaving the house to see the show.
The Lowry helps to create a suitable atmosphere by lighting their cafe with candles in wine bottles and making announcements threatening execution for anyone whose mobile phone goes off. Actually, that’s not such a bad idea!
-Dave Cunningham