Boeing Boeing at the Devonshire Park Theatre is a classic farce that will go some way towards brightening up the increasingly dark autumn evenings. The 1960’s French comedy by Marc Camoletti, relies completely on Ben Roddy’s detailed direction. Every movement is choreographed with split second precision, and each character is a delectable exaggeration. After all, that’s what farce is all about, big characters, who are total stereotypes, yet somehow unique to the actor who creates them.
The story tells of wealthy architect Bernard (Alan Drake) who is scarily proud of his ability to keep three fiancees on the go at the same time. They are all airline stewardesses with hectic, but thankfully diverse, schedules, and he has devised a system to keep track of their comings and goings, using his notebook and an encyclopedia of international flight timetables, to make sure they never meet.
His housekeeper Bertha, played for every drop of her comic value by Rebecca Wheatley, helps with his schedule, changing bedside photographs and preparing different cuisine depending on who is due, and when. The three fiancees, with personalities and accents reminiscent of the seriously dubious TV programme Mind Your Language, are the gushy Californian, Gloria, played by Polly Lister, Gabriella, the fiery Italian (Katy Dean) and the quirky and hilarious Gretchen from Germany, played by Polly Smith.
Everything is running smoothly until Robert arrives, and is invited to stay while he looks for a flat of his own. He’s a nerdy former school chum of Bernard, played with great timing and skill by Phil Stewart, who cannot believe Bernard’s lifestyle as he really would like just one girl of his own! Bernard gives him the rundown of how he balances his three girlfriends but when poor Robert tries to remember everything, the real fun begins.
This production has all the trappings of the typical farce genre, with a one room set, representing a Parisian apartment, that has a rather improbable seven doors in it that open and shut with increasing frequency allowing characters to pop in and out and, somehow, just miss each other. There’s plenty of action throughout the show and plenty of simmering sexual innuendo – well, after all, it is the swinging ’60s!
The actors provide a lot of contrast. Drake’s Bernard starts off as the most low-key. He’s calm at the centre of the whirlwind but, as his life unravels, with surprising results, he becomes progressively more manic – and sweaty. Stewart tackles the role of Robert very well. He’s a nervous wreck from the get-go when he learns of Bernard’s tricky womanizing and, as life begins to fall apart, he gives an admirable physical performance, although sometimes slightly overdone.
Rebecca Wheatley as Bernard’s disillusioned, deadpan housekeeper provides a sharp contrast to the other women. She pulls off the lion’s share of the funny moments, and delivers some classic one-liners. Katy Dean’s “Italian” accent does manage to stray across a few international borders and Polly Lister is fantastically over the top as Gloria who is playing out an agenda of her own.
However, of the three fiancees, it is Polly Smith, as the iron maiden with a German accent that is straight out of ‘Allo ‘Allo, who comes over the best. She is so deliciously frosty and uptight and yet, not far under the surface, she is a simmering pot of pent up sexual frustration just waiting to explode.
Andy Newell’s seven doored set is furnished in 1960’s chic (we had such bad taste back then!) and leaves plenty of room for the actors to complete all the frantic comings and goings unhindered. The show runs nearly two and a half hours, including the interval, which did see a few members of the audience shifting uneasily in their seats, but they say that time flies when you are having fun, and Boeing Boeing is fun.
*** Three Stars