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School House's House Play 2011 - ‘Allo, Allo!’

In what seems to be the year of the sitcoms, School House’s choice of wartime farce Allo, Allo! was very much in keeping with the current trend. The classic comedy, famed for its reliance on national stereotypes, ludicrously exaggerated accents and farcical plot lines was an interesting choice of production for a House that contains, on paper, a talented dramatic cast. In order to pull off an hour of non-stop laughs, Sam Foster and Rob Tatton-Brown’s cast required energy, commitment and a strong sense of ensemble unity, all of which School House evidently possessed in bucket loads.

The play was set, of course, in Rene’s café and the simple layout of the table and chairs of stage left, the bar area towards backstage and the German offices on stage right worked well, and was the first of many wise directorial choices throughout the play. Meanwhile, before the play had even begun the authentic sense of 1940s France had been wonderfully set by the very impressive accordionist who recited the original Allo, Allo! theme tune with panache at both the beginning and end of the play. Other technical aspects worthy of praise were the superbly realistic costumes, all of which seemed fitting with the age. A personal favourite sartorial choice was the highly comic range of outfits worn by Roger Leclerc, which brought great colour to an already vibrantly designed play.

Moving onto the performances, there were a wide range of spirited and hearty portrayals of varying nationalities and quality. Josh Pafford was typically comic as the outrageously camp German Lieutenant Hubert Gruber, whilst Will Rushworth, although wasted in what was effectively little more than a cameo, showed his obvious acting ability as the famed character of Herr Otto Flick. Of all the catch-phrase reliant characters, Sam Foster’s Leclerc was probably the best, his amusing physicality a particular treat and Tonye Sekibo’s distinctive performance as Captain Abiyote Abate will remain long in the memory. Perhaps the cast was filled with too many drag acts, which were all too often portrayed simply for the sake of a cheap laugh, and many a German accent was allowed to slip, but in general the energy and unity of the collective company shone through. Credit for keeping a relatively large cast together goes, as ever, to the directors. However I cannot review the cast’s performances without mentioning the glue that held an otherwise puerile cast of characters together, Rob Tatton-Brown and his portrayal of café owner Rene. Tatton-Brown’s Rene shared the bedraggled desperation of the original character, and his French accent was among the best of the show. Also, a mention for a classy performance from Tomas Feist as Michelle Dubois, who highlighted the ill-disciplined gag-pulling efforts of certain other female characters by turning in a mature and well-judged portrayal of his own.

Overall, the levels of performance energy from a spirited ensemble cast were, as expected, very high, and the creative vision of the directors was technically well executed with superb costumes, set design and innovative features such as the accordion. However, one cannot help but feel that School House sold themselves short by choosing a comedy of dubious funniness. In comparison to timeless classics of genuine wit and wisdom such as Fawlty Towers and The Vicar of Dibley, the material on offer had clearly aged since it was first written, and lacked enough cohesive plot and genuinely hilarious moments to stand up to simply better works of comedy. One has to wonder if more could not have been achieved had a more challenging, or simply a funnier, choice of play been chosen. Despite this error in play selection, School House showed why they are such a unified and tightly knit house with a solid performance, and all involved should be proud of their efforts.

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After the success of North Town, I would be lying if I didn’t say that I wondered whether or not School House could compare. Unlike most, they hadn’t plastered numerous comedic posters around School, and thus the audience waited in slight anticipation, unaware of what was to come. Before the play had even started, and as the audience were keenly looking for their seats, I noticed a young boy was playing the accordion. This was a nice touch as it was something which subtly introduced us to the concept of France, and created some intrigue as to what was to follow.

The play started by introducing us, rather immediately, to café owner René Artois (Robert Tatton-Brown) and his rather crude antics to ‘ave it off’ with several of his female waitresses – excluding his wife Edith (Jake Humphries). Then we learn that despite these comedic interludes, World War II is well and truly under way, and that by some turn of fate, René has ended up as the double agent – stuck helping both the Germans and the French. As it turns out, René and Edith have been hiding a painting of Madonna (stolen by the Nazis) in a sausage in their cellar. Yes, one does wonder how you hide a painting in a sausage! However, soon René hears that the Fuhrer is coming to visit, and that he wants his sausage back. Consequently, the end of the play finishes on the amusing climax of this precarious situation – with about four characters pretending to be Hitler.

As far as the choice of play is concerned, Sam Foster and Rob Tatton-Brown definitely set themselves a challenge. Originally a television show, ‘Allo Allo’ also made an episode specifically designed for the theatre (that which School House chose to use), and I think that although this was an ambitious choice, they definitely managed to pull it off with a sound performance. Their set design with the café stage right and the German headquarters on the left (with the additional photo of Hitler), was used to effect and their use of costumes – both for the women and the men – created the perfect atmosphere for the play.

In my view, there were some outstanding performances, but especially in the form of Josh Pafford as the camp, effeminate Lieutenant Hubert Gruber, with his high pitched voice and unforgettably womanly hand gestures in response to ‘Heil Hitler’ that had the audience in fits of laughter. Will Rushworth as Herr Otto Flick and Cyrus Devlin as Private Helga Geerhart also deserve praise for their impressive German accents as well as performances in general – even if Will did lose his limp at times. Finally, it has to be said that Jake Humphries, Tom Beresford and Jamie Smith as the three lead females were thoroughly entertaining and made very convincing women – especially Jake’s notable female walk. Of course, when you have three compelling characters such as these and add Rob Tatton-Brown as the innuendo-based, chilled René into the mixture, you are bound to be pleasantly amused.

This was certainly an interesting choice of play, with a reasonably large cast and a range of accents that at times weren’t always consistent. However setting this and the slight jumble of people towards the end aside, nothing deterred from the humorous plotline that lasted throughout and that was portrayed admirably by the actors.

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