Boeing, Boeing

Fasten your seatbelts and prepare to time travel back to the 1960s via the classic French farce Boeing, Boeing by Marc Camoletti.

Confirmed bachelor, Bernard, living in romantic Paris, is engaged to three air hostesses simultaneously. Each works for a different airline and Bernard meticulously tracks their flight schedules, to ensure they never meet. This juggling act is only possible with the help of his grumpy maid, Bertha. A visit from old friend, Robert, complicates the plot further. But everything unravels when Boeing introduces a faster plane, demolishing Bernard’s elaborate balancing act.

Robert Quirk plays Bernard, a suave playboy, amusingly oblivious to the escalating chaos of his lifestyle.  Cee Campbell gives a star performance as Bertha, holding her boss’s messy life together with sardonic wit. Richard Alves does a fine job – charming and loyal - as the friend who yearns for a slice of the action.

The three fiancées portray every goofy stereotype of their nationalities. They are sharply rendered, with flair and energy, by all three talented women. Briony Low plays Gloria, a flirty, independent American (TWA). Sexy, temperamental Italian, Gabriella (Alitalia), is perfectly nuanced by Stephanie Pugglioni. The German Lufthansa stewardess, Gretchen (Andrea Murray), is over-the-top passionate – I laughed the loudest at her lively antics as did the audience.

Colourful costumes were authentically designed by former flight attendant, Trish Nissen. The lighting design (Jasper Lee and Nathan Schulz) is pure 1960s, with jolly primary-coloured dancing spotlights. The set is an elegant Parisian love nest, complete with the essential multiple doors.

There’s nothing more fun than a good farce – and this one fits the bill, generating plenty of laughs. The show is ably directed for maximum comedy by Nathan Schulz and team.

Judy Neumann

www.tuguntheatre.org