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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Let me introduce you! Karen Whittingham as
fiancée Gabriella, Phil Sheffield as Bernard, Debra Attwood as fiancée
No 2 Gretchen, and Matt Bryom as Robert Boeing-BoeingDudley Little Theatre
**** IT’S back to the swinging sixties with
Marc Comoletti’s French farce and Bernard is the happy bachelor about
town with the perfect love life – sharing his Paris flat with not just
one but three gorgeous air hostesses. Not all at the same, of course, that would be
greedy, and somewhat exhausting, but with the wonders of modern long
haul travel with its crew layovers, an up to date airline
timetable,modest organisational skills – and a compliant if somewhat
cantankerous maid - it is perfectly possible to have three romances
running in parallel in splendid isolation. Thus Bernard is simultaneously engaged to
American Gloria from TWA, Italian Gabriella from Alitalia and German
Gretchen from Lufthansa, or perhaps that should be Lusthansa under the
circumstances; three live-in lovers kept apart by their well-oiled
airline schedules. Simple, that is until the perfect storm hits the
perfect passion; first there is Gloria’s news as she leaves for New York
that TWA’s new, faster super Boeings will mean she will be spending more
time in Paris, which could bring the schedule crashing down, and then,
more immediate, Gabriella, who has just arrived, announces she is moving
to Alitalia’s new, faster Super Constellations which means she will also
spend more time in Paris . . . and her flight today is now tomorrow. Gretchen, due to arrive after Gabriella was
supposed to have left, who was to be arriving late is now early and
Gloria’s flight to New York has returned to Paris because of bad
weather.
In the middle of all this walks Robert, an old
school friend who has just arrived from Aix-en-Provence while helping
keep all the balls in the air is the belligerent maid Bertha, who was
inherited with the flat. Bertha, played with cantankerous contempt by
Jackie Bevan is a delight, a comic gem; obstreperous, argumentative and
revelling in the unfolding disaster in a comic gem while Dudley regular
Phil Sheffield as Bernard is a revelation, showing a wonderful flair for
comedy.
His facial expressions, Pythonesque grimaces and
exaggerated cringing as his pick and mix world of lust comes crashing
around is ears is a pleasure to watch. He opens as the suave, in control, master of his
morally questionable destiny, explaining his system of romance by rota
to the newly arrived Robert, then slowly descending from lover boy to
blubber boy, a near gibbering wreck, verbally tap dancing his way deeper
into the chasm of catastrophe as his chickens, or in this case, air
hostesses, come home to roost. Drawn into the panic as an unwitting collaborator
is Robert played with a sort of provincial charm by Matt Byrom. Robert
has no romantic involvements with anyone apart from some girl he likes
but has never asked out, but finds himself drawn into helping Bernard,
flapping and flustering his way wonderfully through an ever growing
mountain of lies and deceptions. And then there are the girls; Pam Griffith’s
Gloria is open, a little blousy perhaps, with a hint of good-time girl
about her while Gabriella from Karen Whittingham is a passionate, head
strong Italian you feel it would be best not to cross unless you have a
penchant for hospital food. Then there is Gretchen played with humourless
Teutonic seriousness by Debra Attwood, dour, straight-faced, and with
all the sense of fun of a plant pot and with a nationalistic diet which
seems to consist of frankfurters and sauerkraut. She has an ardour that
one imagines demands immediate attention and complete obedience. Three different women, three different, and
consistent, accents and three different problems for Bernard and Robert,
or perhaps Marc Camoletti, to solve and that’s where all the fun for the
audience comes in. It is a farce that depends upon impeccable timing
both verbally and physically with three bedroom doors, a bathroom door,
lounge door and kitchen entrance all part of the plot as people are
ushered into rooms, prevented from entering or emerge unannounced, and
the cast had it spot on. Director Maurice Felton has done a good job in
controlling the rhythm of the production opening with the easy, gentle
pace at the start when all was well and Bernard was in control giving
way to panic when things start to unravel and it then becomes positively
frantic as everything crashes and burns around poor Bernard - all of
which means the two hour length just flies by. Dudley have produced a good set which works well
and Phil Sheffield, again, has done a fine job on costumes, particularly
the three air hostess uniforms. It’s fun, clever, well-acted by a strong
cast, fast paced, entertaining and is packed with of laughs - a most
enjoyable evening and you can’t ask more from a farce than that. To
14-05-15. Roger Clarke 11-05-15 |
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So
all head home to . . . Bernard’s flat near Orly airport, the love
timetable in tatters.