1948, the Malayan Emergency: whilst most of Britain is getting used to peacetime once again, the British army is engaged in a forgotten war against Communism on the other side of the world. Its secret weapon? The Song and Dance Unit South East Asia - or SADUSEA... Read more …
The task of creating a variety show to entertain the troops has fallen to Acting Captain Terri Dennis, the finest Marlene Dietrich impersonator ever to hail from Lancashire. The problem is that he’s been landed with a bunch of wet behind the ears National Service types who can’t tell a tap step from a tea cup.
If having to master Fred and Ginger duets and the Western Approaches ballet wasn’t enough, the Unit also has to cope with a deranged Sergeant Major who’s up to something iffy on the black market, a CO who’s convinced that Christian piety can defeat the Red Menace – and a couple of Chinese servants who aren’t quite what they seem...
Based on Peter Nichols’s own National Service experiences whilst entertaining the troops alongside Kenneth Williams and Stanley Baxter, Privates On Parade pays a nostalgic and wildly funny tribute to the dying days of Empire and the swansong of the concert party.
This will be the Scottish première production of the revised 2001 version of Nichols’s classic comedy – another Anniversary first!
This is saucy postcard humour for adults - and under the assured directorial touch of Richard Baron, the fun is hilarious but serves to bring you back down to earth with a bump when the darker side of action in the Malayan jungle rears its ugly head.
At its best, though, this is a brave, skilful and beautifully-performed production of an important play about an ill-fated British military campaign, full of resonances for our own time.
There were a few rough edges on the first night but it will surely settle. And the, ahem, authentic full frontal all-male shower scene will have all Perthshire talking for weeks.
Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry from Thursday July 14, 2011, until Friday October 14, 2011. More info: www.pitlochry.org.uk
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