Blackadder Goes Forth is now playing at the Gaslight Theatre, Claire Robson went along to check it out.
From left, Melchett and Captain Darling interrogating Baldrick, George and Edmund Blackadder after the untimely end of Speckled Jim, a plump-breasted carrier pigeon that was Melchett’s pride and joy (and apparently quite tasty). Photo: Peter Tait.
A massive Blackadder fan, I was excited to go and check out this show and I was not disappointed.
It was always going to be tricky to replicate the comedy genius of Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie and co, but I thought the cast of Blackadder Goes Forth did a reasonable job of it.
The standout for me was Jared Wooldridge as George, who I thought absolutely nailed the character. Nicholas Wells in the title role managed to channel Edmund Blackadder very well, capturing the original’s mannerisms and vocal character, and Mike Scanlon as the hapless Baldrick also did an excellent job.
The show was based on three episodes of the BBC series – Corporal Punishment, Private Plane and Goodbyee – and it was fitting that it started in time for Armistice. The poignant end of the series was captured superbly by the stage show, which was set at the Western Front (the Somme) in 1917, when the comedy subsided at the end and the chilling reality of the loss of life was driven home.
Blackadder fans should head along to the Gaslight and check this out, it’s on until December 8.
