New Era’s latest offering is Marc Camoletti’s 50s flight of frivolity Boeing Boeing, an
outrageous farce set over the course of a night at Bernard’s bachelor pad.
Bernard maintains a charmed life, with the schedules in and out of Orly airport
carefully timetabling his diary with each of his three flight attendant fiancées.
However, the arrival of an old friend, new aircraft engine technology and a storm
brewing over the Atlantic, mean his salubrious lifestyle is about to be tipped upside
down.
Adam Wells (Bernard) and Neil Padgen (Robert) both give excellent interpretations
of their respective characters, as they enjoy significant moral and emotional
journeys.
Wells begins suave and assured, as Bernard extols the virtues of polygamy to
Padgen’s nervy and credulous Robert.
As the action unfolds and Bernard goes to pieces, Wells becomes noticeably rattled
and disheveled, while Padgen stands taller and increasingly confident with the
opportunities Robert finds himself faced with.
While elements of the play may not have aged so well, the three fiancés remain
strong female characters who give their future husband hard times in equal measure.
Each a national stereotype, Gloria (Jo Caruana), Gabriella (Carla Hart) and Gretchen
(Lydia Stubbins) are played with well-considered characterisation. Caruana is a
splendidly brattish Southern Belle, who knows what she wants and how to
manipulate Bernard to get it.
Hart’s Gabriella is a kind-hearted and passionate Italian, keeping her Bernard on a
short leash. Stubbins’ Gretchen is a force of nature, an enthusiastic, if somewhat
intimidating Lufthansa stewardess!
Trying to hold everything together is malcontented maid Berthe, portrayed with
beautiful bafflement by Karen Ashby, who plays the straight woman to excellent
effect, as chaos reigns around her.
In the programme notes, director Keith Phillips explains that he selected Boeing
Boeing “simply because it is fun.” This is something he draws well from this
excellent cast, who are clearly having a blast on stage. There are opportunities to do
more here, to ramp up the ridiculous, as well as some potential to modernise
elements of France’s most widely performed play in the world.