Listen very closely. I will say this only vonce. BBC classic comedy ‘Allo Allo’ is coming to the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society (BMDS) stage at 2000h [twenty-hundred hours]. Hide in the bar until the curtain opens.

‘Allo Allo’ ran from 1982 to 1992 and was a parody of BBC drama ‘Secret Army’. It was created by David Croft who also co-wrote and produced popular BBC comedies such as ‘Dad’s Army’ and Are You Being Served?’

The setting is a restaurant in Nazi-occupied France. In every episode of the show, restaurant owner, René Artois (Shawn Angiers), tries to stay alive by pleasing everyone, the Nazis, the British, his wife, his lover and his cranky mother-in-law, and in so doing gets hopelessly muddled in various hilarious intrigues.

There was the time a valuable painting of a fallen Madonna with the big ‘you know whats’ went missing, and then in another episode the painting is in the wrong hands again. Also, three fallen British airmen in need of rescue are always turning up at the most inopportune time. And it’s only Tuesday, is René’s frequent lament. It’s often a toss up over who is likely to kill him first, the Nazis or his wife Edith (Jo Shane).

The show promises to be a sell out; BMDS sold so many tickets to members that they had to add two extra nights before tickets even went on sale to the public.

Ms Shane said BMDS decided to put on ‘Allo Allo’ after similar productions of ‘Fawlty Towers’ and ‘Dad’s Army’ proved to be smash hits on the Island.

“It is closely based on the television show, but the unusual thing about this one is that this production was written for the stage,” said Ms Shane. “With ‘Fawlty Towers’ and ‘Dad’s Army’, we were using actual episodes that appeared on television. This production actually has a beginning, middle and an end. I think maybe they wrote it when the television series was ending.”

Despite the mass popularity of the television show during its time, this is the first exposure to ‘Allo Allo’ for some of the cast members.

“I hadn’t seen it before, but I have become a fan,” said Mr Angiers. “I am originally from Canada, and ‘Allo Allo’ was one of the Britcoms that didn’t make it into Canada, all that much. I was familiar with ‘Fawlty Towers’ and ‘Are You Being Served.’”

He has been catching up by watching episodes on the You Tube website and said the writing is very clever.

Mr Angiers played Stewpot in last year’s Gilbert and Sullivan production of South Pacific.

Alex Rosati, who plays Nazi officer Colonel Von Strom, said he hadn’t seen ‘Allo Allo’ before either, but as soon as he read the script, he knew he wanted to be involved.

“I laughed out loud when I read the script,” he said. “Now it is about becoming familiar with characters that many people in the audience will already know. We will do it our own way and give it that Bermuda flavour. You always make any production your own, even if you try to do it the same way.”

Mr Rosati’s 16-year-old son Damon Rosati, is also in the performance as Captain Bertorelli. The younger Mr Rosati, a Warwick Academy student, hopes to eventually go into the theatre as a career.

“For my character, the accents and everything are hard, but the hardest thing for me is being so young in such an adult show,” Damon Rosati said. “I wanted it that way though. I want to work with older people apart from people in the Gilbert and Sullivan Society and Warwick Academy.”

Other actors including Justine Foster, Kim Day, Emma Muggleton, Jim Brier, Mary Brier, Joanna Heaney, Clive Dakin, Adam Gauntlett, Julia Pitt, Chris Jones, Gavin Wilson, Tim Stewart, Jache Adams, Kareem James, Alan Brooks, Reuben Flood and Brian Wedlich.

‘Allo Allo’ will be at the Daylesford Theatre from April 30 to May 3 and May 5 to 10 at 8pm. Tickets are $30 each available from the Daylesford box office by calling 292-0848 or online at www.bmds.bm.