Dad's Army Stageshow

wonder_will · Dad's Army Stageshow

Hi all

Just thought I'd write a short note to let you all know about the DA stageshow I recently went to see - the opening night in Eastbourne.

The location (Devonshire Park Theatre) was perfect; literally like stepping back into 1940s England. And 'English' is a word I would use to describe the production, it was a celebration of being English.

As soon as we sat down we were met with wartime music being played (Glenn Miller etc) which really added to the atmosphere and has prompted me to buy the Dad's Army original soundtrack from play.com!

Now, the production itself was made up of 4 episodes:

- A Stripe for Frazer
- Loneliness of Long Distance Walker
- Room at the Bottom
- The Deadly Attachment

It was great to see the lost episodes being acted out as it felt like new material on show, but to be honest, it was clear that Perry and Croft had really got into their stride by the time Room at the Bottom and Deadly Attachment were written.

It was a large cast, but it was very professional and the interaction on stage was excellent.

I promised myself i wouldn't be too critical of the stageshow as it is almost impossible to recreate the brilliance of the original show, but 95% of what I saw was excellent - the sets, the acting etc. The fact that the performance was generally so good made the one fairly large error all the more frustrating as it could have easily been avoided...

However, I had one gripe with the stageshow - the performance of the actor playing Captain Mainwaring (Timothy Kightley).

Admittedly, Arthur Lowe is my favourite actor from the show and Mainwaring is my favourite character, but i was not alone in my criticism of the performance I saw as both my parents said the same thing as we left the theatre.

Kightley can clearly act - he spoke with clarity and enthusiasm, but lacked two key traits that Arthur Lowe had in abundance; subtlety and timing.

Emulating Arthur Lowe is an impossible task, but Kightley overdid every line he delivered, he almost shouted every line in a very non-Arthur Lowe manner and in my opinion spoilt many of the scenes in the show.

It's hard to describe without you seeing the performance, but Kightley is clearly not a Dad's Army fan - he simply hasn't watched the show.

For example, the actor playing Sgt Wilson (David Warwick) was superb - from the nonchalant touching of the earlobe and the tone of his "do you think that's wise Sir", he 'nailed' the Sgt Wilson role and had clearly analysed John Le Mesurier's performance in the show to the finest detail.

In contrast, a classic moment from Deadly Attachment where Mainwaring is nose to nose with the German Officer who blows smoke in his face. Mainwaring manages to keep his sturn look, before going back to Wilson and coughing as Wilson comforts him with a pat on the back. It's a classic moment that Kightley clearly hasn't seen as he coughed in a rather OTT fashion as soon as the smoke was blown!

Anyway, rant over, and please don't let this put off any potential attendees, it was just very frustrating for so many performances to be superb and the leading actor to not quite perform at the same level.

I would be very interested to hear what other people thought - I hear that the role of Mainwaring was originally played on the stage by Joe from The Royle Family, which would have been very interesting to see.

Gripe aside, I got home pretty late but still got out the Room at the Bottom DVD and watched it until the early hours and it reiterated what a truly classic show Dad's Army is.

Any thoughts welcome...

Will

Swallow Bank

I have seen the stage play four times and am due to see it again when it reaches St Albans next week.

We have reviewed the Stage Play many times on the podcast, and several of our listeners have sent in reviews after seeing it during the first run last year and after Mainwaring was re-cast for the second leg. We have recorded three special podcasts focusing solely on the play and are they available to listen to at www.dadsarmy.podomatic.com I would quite like to read out your comments in a future podcast if you are agreeable - perhaps you can let me know if you happy for me to so either here, or by emailing me at james@dadsarmypodcast.com

Personally, I thought Peter Martin's portrayal of Mainwaring was far worse than Timothy Kightley. Martin simply didn't have the gravitas for the role - he frequently broke into a northern accent and couldn't portray frustration without it coming across as anger. Kightley's performance had far more in common with Arthur Lowe than Martin ever did and the show has been receiveing far better reviews since it relaunched in February this year, with Kightley as Mainwaring.

Regards,

James

wonder_will

Hi James

Yes more than happy for you to use some of my comments if you see fit.

Interesting news on Peter Martin - perhaps they need to recast for a second time!

Despite my qualms it was fantastic to see my favourite show being brought to life on stage and overall, I would thoroughly recommend it to any fan of the show.

Regards

Will

nunky

I would love to see the play but I don't think it is coming to the Newcastle area.

Closest it came last year was Darlington and unfortunately that coincided with my holidays.

Novelty Rock Emporium

nunky

Thanks for that.

I will get up there for my tickets (10 year old daughter likes D.A. too).

I will let you know what I think of it.