Emma Wilby reviews a

seamless and sensational

show at North Tawton

Taking one of Britain's best-loved comedy series to the stage is never easy — especially when the comedy in question is the BBC's 'Blackadder', series 2.

Everyone has their own image of the 'canoe' in Lord Flashheart's pocket, the lump of cheese hanging from Baldrick's nose, Percy's impersonation of a 'plate-swallowing bird' and Lord Melchett's complacent au contraire as he proudly unveils his comedy breasts.

To see these iconic scenes performed by anyone other than Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, Tony Robinson et al could easily be an anti-climax.

But last week, when the Actors of North Tawton Society (ANTS) donned their codpieces and hose and rose to the challenge they made the show their own.

In the run-up to the performances, demand for tickets was so high that for the Friday and Saturday nights round-table seating was abandoned in favour of rows to squeeze more people in.

On the nights themselves, for those ANTS members who hadn't already mastered the skill, the production was a crash course in how to time-delay lines in response to audience laughter.

With no stage-version available, director Nigel Davies worked with the original TV scripts. His decision to divide the stage into three parts and freeze actors when not needed cleverly resolved the demand, in the made-for-camera storyline, for lots of short scenes in different locations.

This meant that sections like the second half of the 'Beer' episode — when action moves back and forth between Blackadder's 'gourmet turnip evening' and his 'wall-to-wall-vomiting party' — were seamlessly executed.

The costumes were sensational. Queenie was a vast, squeaking meringue of white silk, Percy minced around in a melange of orange velvet and Lord Ponsonby's head, perched on its spike, was fabulously green and fetid.

Characterisation was also superb, with a tart Blackadder (Mark Norman) being endlessly frustrated by a superbly vacant Baldrick (Nigel Davies), dim-witted Percy (Hamish Inglis), quirky Queen (Louisa Mogford), droll Nursie (Tracey Norman) and mellifluous Melchett (John Palmer).

The remaining characters were played by Serena Fewings, Anna Field, Arrabella Henshaw, Adam Lloyd, Paul Reed, Sarah Ruby, Steve Stocker, Mike Thwaites, Ben Thwaites and Sue Weedon.