Reviews

A dramatisation of the liaison between Adolf Hitler and his half-niece ‘Geli’, this play is reminiscent – in reduced form - of Shakespeare’s Othello – that is, a vain, self-dramatising and vulnerable man is manipulated so that his ‘love’ turns to murderous hatred.  Here, however, it’s 1931 and the man is Hitler (Matthew Richard Walsh) and the manipulators are Goebbels (Ben Byrne) and Himmler (Jonathan Harris), worried that their Führer is ‘distracted’ from his duties to the party by his

A powerful exploration into relationships using creative devices other than storyline. An encapsulating performance that will delight dance lovers.

The formidable team behind the show is led by choreographer Stephanie Lake, in collaboration with dancers Christina Chan (Singapore) and Aymeric Bichon (France), with sound by Robin Fox, lighting by Bosco Shaw and costumes by Paula Lewis. The intimacy and respect shared among them was evident in the performance as well as in the Q&A session with Lake, Fox, Chan and Bichon that followed the performance I saw.

Fans of the TV series ‘Allo ‘Allo will be very pleased with this very faithful recreation of the television series, by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, which contains all of the famous catch-phrases, and some of the series’ most iconic moments.

Peter Neaves appears to be in his element as central character, cafe owner Rene. He works nicely with Kate Elder who plays his wife Edith, in a nicely broad performance. Rene is also carrying on with both of his waitresses, well played by Lara Brunini (Yvette) and Georgina Kling (Mimi).

This production was a mixture of revue, pantomime and slapstick comedy. 

Originally written for a cast of five: Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson and 43 other characters to be played by 3 people, the co-directors have augmented the cast to 9 very active performers.

In keeping with the various aforementioned genre, minimum props and scenery were used together with a plethora of wigs, costumes, (somewhat dubious) accents and a certain amount of cross-dressing to transport the audience around the Devonshire Moors.