ST. PAUL’S PLAYERS PRESENTS
‘ALLO ‘ALLO
5TH -8TH SEPTEMBER 2007
THE PRODUCTION TEAM DIRECTOR- Vincent Taylor PRODUCER- Wendy Salvage
THE CAST RENE- John Sangster EDITH- Judith Armstrong
YVETTE- Anne O’Shea
MIMI- Leanne Downes
LE CLERC- Tom Power
MICHELLE- Jane Catterall
COLONEL- Vincent Taylor BERTORELLI- Craig Nixon GRUBER- Chris Martin HERR FLICK- Liam O’Driscoll HELGA- Jane Harrison
CRABTREE- Phillip Armstrong
AIRMAN 1 - Graham Bailey
AIRMAN2 - Stephen Blundell
PEASANTS & RESISTANCE- Jill Heeks & Kathy Smith
BOLTON NEWS REVIEW “OH heck”, St Paul’s Players must have been somewhat nervous when the curtain rose to reveal a packed hall on the first night of their production of Allo Allo. But they rose to the occasion with real fighting spirit, and charmed the audience with their faithful homage to the popular television series. John Sangster took the leading role of Renee, the cafe owner who finds himself an unwilling participant in the French Resistance. It is hard to follow the famous performance of Gorden Kaye, but it is impossible not to warm to Sangster’s version, which is played with wit and warmth, never missing the opportunity for a double entendre. Hugely popular with the audience too, was Phillip Armstrong, in the role of the bungling policeman Crabtree, who not only has trouble with his words, but also his trousers. Bravely stepping into the fray at the last moment was Vince Taylor, who also directed the play, taking over the role of General Kurt Von Strohm from Ken Thompson. The rest of the cast – including Judith Armstrong, Ann O’Shea, Jane Catterall, Leanne Downes and Liam O’Driscoll – were also excellent, and it seemed a shame to be saying “au revoir”. By Kat Dibbits
NODA REVIEW The director of this well known farce knows all about ” the show must go on!” At the last minute a member of the cast became ill and he stood in as the Colonal and did very well . This play is like two episodes of this World War II comedy which on stage becomes a farce. We had a good flexible set. I am not too sure about some costumes but the piece flowed well. The sight lines stage left meant that the wall on that side was not visible, so it appeared that the two airmen popped out of what was a solid wall . I would also suggest that the stairs, or at least the last few rungs be on the back of the set as we lost the entrances of Edith. I thought that Judith Armstrong (Edith), did not quite look the part with her hair style; and she should have been given separate cabaret costume. What she was given didn’t help her characterisation. I did enjoy the “singing” — that was very well done. John Sangster did his best with this very hard role. Because everyone has a fixed idea what René looks like, John who has a much slighter build, wasn’t as convincing as he as been in other parts. Phillip Armstrong as Crabtree was very good. So too was Jane Catterall who played Michelle. Mimi was played by Leanne Downes and she and her fellow waitress, Yvette, played by Ann O’Shea both came across well . We had a extremly good Grüber: Chris Martin was in good form, but should watch the hand up movement — one can overdo it. Jane Harrison played Helga. Her mouse traps worked as did her striptease. Liam O’Driscoll played Herr Flick. It is nice to see young, up-and-coming talent. The same comment applies to Craig Nixon. I am sure we will see more of them in the future. This is not the easiest of plays to do but this cast made a creditable stab at it.
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