Boeing Boeing, Fortune Theatre
"Three,'' says Bernard, ''is the perfect number. Less than three would be monotonous. More than three would be terribly tiring.''
He's talking about fiancées.
His (none of whom Bernard has any intention of marrying) are all flight attendants, and he maintains a neat rotation of one in his Paris flat and two in the air. This works brilliantly, until the day the airlines' schedules change.
First produced in 1961, Marc Camoletti's Boeing Boeing is now a period piece, recalling the days when air travel was special and glamorous, and the women who served the drinks were the epitome of chic.
It's also a very funny French farce, with much rushing around, subterfuge and near-hysterics. Misunderstandings abound, quarrels erupt and subside and there are many split-second entrances and exits as Bernard tries desperately to keep the women from meeting.
Bernard is played with deteriorating suavity by Phil Vaughan, and his provincial friend and fast learner Robert by Tom Trevella. American flight attendant Janet is played with Californian enthusiasm by Kelly Hocking,
Air France's sophisticated Jacqueline by Amy Straker and Lufthansa's intensely Teutonic Judith by Elena Stejko. The play's scene-stealer is Bertha, the long-suffering, bad-tempered maid, who knows what she wants and knows how to get it. She is played by Yvette Parsons.
Peter King's set depicts Bernard's stylish mid-century flat and features the seven doors needed for all the comings and goings. The costumes, researched and designed by Maryanne Wright-Smyth, are a delight especially the flight attendants' uniforms in vibrant colours and distinctive 1960s styles.
Boeing Boeing is showing its age and, despite Lara Macgregor's expert direction and the actors' professionalism, sometimes lumbers a little.
But it's fine, frothy fun and an excellent end-of-year reward or pre-Christmas treat.
- Barbara Frame
