Leesten vairy cairefully, I will say zis only once!  An outrageous evening of comedy, in which every entendre is doubled and every stereotype celebrated in a riot of impossible accents, excruciating jokes and incredible events.  The unfortunate Rene evades amorous entanglements, gets his knockwursts well and truly knotted, plays host to a hoard of Hitlers and of course saves the priceless portrait of the Fallen Madonna by van Klomp from the greedy grasp of the Gestapo. 

Review

The success of 'Allo 'Allo lies partly in its choice of a period already well past, so never passé, in its brilliant lampooning of the Germans, but equally the Italians, French and British - but mostly in the gifted writing, great comedy lines and "in character" performances.

Thank goodness then, that the performance enjoyed this week was staged by KRU2, drawn from adult supporters and former members of Kidz R Us Theatre Company.  To tell you very much about the play, other than the "Madonna with the big boobies" features strongly with a large sausage and some misunderstandings about an inflatable Hitler doll, would rather spoil the pleasure of seeing it for yourself.  But I can tell you that the cast is a fine match for the quality of the writing.

Damon Taylor's Rene Artois portrays impeccably that "always worried" demeanour of a sane man whose life has reached unmanageable levels of complexity, while the succulently French waitresses Yvette (Laura Wood) and Mimi (Lauren Sebastian) perfectly convey the British view of French "sexy", while Heather Farr as Rene's wife, Edith, shows a remarkable comic range tinged with barmy resourcefulness.

And what can one say about Christian Hosking's brilliant Gestapo Officer, Herr Otto Flick? Great timing, great characterisation and a real comic partnership with Catherine Edward's Private Helga Geerhart, who creates laughter with just the flicker of her eye.

Under the beautifully balanced direction of Vanessa Gibson, a host of other talents ensured that the sets, costumes, music, sound, lighting and even choreography provided superb foundations on which this well acted and very funny play is staged.

John Hancock, St Ives Times & Echo