Boeing Boeing: High flying classic farce

Jan 2 2009

All was fresh, light and bright. There was not a piece of tinsel in sight. It was positively spring like.

Boeing Boeing at the Liverpool Playhouse was a joy. This classic 60s farce about the colourful love life of the handsome Bernard and his three air stewardesses was, I decided, an inspired choice for a Christmas show.

Just to step into the theatre was a pleasure. You left the cold weather and the festive scrum behind. With its aeronautical theme, here was the excitement of flying off somewhere warm, the promise of adventure. Ushers in cute caps wished you a happy flight.

So we were off to Paris, to the chic, blinding white, ultra modern flat of Bernard, rich architect, with a book of all the airline schedules to hand so he could engineer arrivals and departures of the three women he was engaged to.

It was a little slow on the runway. Martin Marquez, as Bernard, and Sarah Jayne Dunn, as the American fiancee Gloria, had to work at setting just the right brittle, extravagant, oh darling! atmosphere.

But they did it and, with the arrival of Bernard’s cousin, Robert, the production took flight. While this was a strong ensemble piece, John Marquez made a tour de force in the role of cousin from the provinces suddenly thrown into this glamorous melee.

With, for some reason, a Welsh accent, he maximised the comic potential of every scene as Bernard’s careful timetable was savaged by changed schedules and changeable weather. Full marks for great timing and hugely entertaining suffering!

The farcical fun of much coming and going through the seven doors on set, the narrow escapes, the triumphs, the shredded nerves, brought constant laughter You just had to suspend all belief in reality, sit back and enjoy the ride.

The girls looked great in hot red, blue and yellow airline suits with the miniest of skirts. And they gave their characters perfect, over-the-top treatment: Dunn, the brash American, Thaila Zucchi, the temperamental Italian, and Josephine Butler, the dour German.

Martin Marquez was a suave Bernard and Susie Blake, as his long-suffering maid Bertha, was a study in disaffection, close to grumpy and enjoying it.

Landing was highly satisfactory, and staying in your seat rewarding – there was a bonus bit of fun before we had to re-enter the frantic real world. Highly recommended as a refuge from any overcooked Christmas.