Following on from last year’s success with the stage adaptation of Allo!, Allo!, Chester Little Theatre open another season with a sequel - Allo!, Allo! 2,The Camembert Caper, which is packing houses this week at the Gloucester Street venue.
This second adaptation by David Pibworth, David Lovesey and Steve Clark creates a new storyline for the familiar band of characters but peppers it with lines and gags borrowed from various episodes, giving both the dialogue and the farcical situation comedy a satisfying air of familiarity and nostalgia.
Amidst the previous proliferation of forged paintings hidden inside sausages, Van Klomp’s precious ‘Fallen Madonna’ has gone hopelessly astray, leaving General Von Klinkerhoffen demanding money from the Colonel and the Captain, who in turn demand it from the long suffering café proprietor Rene. In a bid to obtain the cash from the resistance, Rene is forced to stage an entertainment at the café, but a debacle with the can-can dancers that the resistance were supplying leads to him having to dress up various unsuspecting helpers, including the British airmen, whose latest bids for escape have once again left them stranded in Nouvien. Further complications to the plan involving a dubious loan from the amorous undertaker M. Alphonse, and M. Leclerc with a tray of camembert result in a hilarious denouement.
Director Lisa Miller has assembled a huge cast in which several members are reprising roles from last time, notably Alexander Davies and Anne Mellows as Rene and Edith, who both show impeccable comic timing and a knack for digging themselves out of holes. Back too are Alison Knott and Marie-Claire Ashcroft as multi-tasking waitresses Yvette and Mimi, Jess Toyne as Helga, Rhiannon White as Michelle of the resistance, Jac Wardle as the hilarious Officer Crabtree, John McGinn as the master of disguise Leclerc and Ray Bengree as Colonel Von Strohm.
Segueing into different roles from last year are Colin Banks who becomes Herr Flick of the Gestapo, and Kieran Egan who is a perfect fit in the part of Captain Geering. Meanwhile Matthew Richards steps elegantly into the part of Lieutenant Gruber and Dawn Adams, complete with ear trumpet and flashing bedknobs, is Madame Fanny. Two glorious additions to the cast are RonanTaylor and Max Harley-Mills as the hapless airmen Fairfax and Carstairs, whose turns both as can-can dancers and a pantomime horse have to be seen to be believed.
John McGinn’s ingenious set design succeeds in squeezing a remarkable number of locations onto the stage, and it is hats off to the backstage team for the challenging number of set and costume changes.
Miller directs the convoluted plot with real clarity and crack shot timing, managing to keep the energy flowing through the complex succession of scenes, and knows when to allow the clockwork to collapse into mayhem at all the right moments.
So many members of the team are on or back-stage for this production that it is surprising that the house manager could find anyone left to usher the show! All in all this is a mammoth enterprise that is pulled off with aplomb, and possibly tops the hysteria of last year’s instalment.
Allo! Allo!, The Camembert Caper is an unbridled romp that keeps the audience laughing from beginning to end, and richly deserves the enthusiastic response it receives from the capacity audience.
Production Photography by Stephen Cain
This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool
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