Bucks Examiner: 26/5/2000
"Every evening, every day, BLAG get it right"

VARIETY, so they say, is the spice of life...and if that's true then BLAG's new show is guaranteed to add a few extra years to your life.
Doing the Lambeth Walk takes the audience on a journey through the East End and wht eworld of variety theatre, where, armed with a glossary of rhyming slang and the words to old favourites like 'Pack up your troubles', 'Knees up Mother Brown', 'Roll out the barrel', 'I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts' and 'It's a long way to Tipperary', they are soon singing along.
Anna Rufey, last seen in BLAG's production of Snoopy, lamented lustily on the 23 occasions she has followed the bride down the aisle, asking "Why am I always the bridesmaid?", and her pairing with Lucy Gwynne-Evans (Woodstock in 'Snoopy') was inspired as the two performers highlighted the talent and ambition of two chorus girls.
Chris Clarke's 'Jimmy Binks' and John Holland's 'One Man Band' were also great fun, while Richard and Lynn Beaumont's 'ABC of Music - 26 snippets of songs, albeit one or two tenuous ones - was simply breathtaking. And credit should go to Lynn for appearing, despite the fact that a sore throat was playing havoc with her singing voice.
But my two favourite performers of the evening were undoubtedly compere Martin Clarkson, whose links kept the audience entertained, and Jean Warner's charlady, whose dreams of fame and fortune on the stage became a brief reality.
Martin was responsible for linking the sequences and for the show's two "animal acts" - Swoop, the Performing Seagull, and Albert, the Performing Flea. During both performances the audience volunteers played up beautifully and the gentle humour made a pleasant change from the aggressive, in-your-face style which tends to characterise today's comedy.
Jean was in fine form in both the ensemble pieces and especially as the theatre's charlady, who steps into a breach to help Martin with Albert's act, dances with her mop and duets with Martin in a song where she claims to be a lady.
Doing the Lambeth Walk is quite simply a delightful evening out and BLAG's professionalism and style increases with every show.

Estelle Sinkins.

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The Watford Observer: 26/5/2000
"BLAG walks away with the Cockney honours"

FLAT caps, braces and rhyming slang galore helped bring the spirit of the East End of London and traditional cabaret to the Watersmeet Theatre in Rickmansworth recently.
BLAG Theatre Company's evening of music and gags, in it's Cockney-style variety show called 'Doing the Lambeth Walk', was great fun.
The venue, the Chess Room, was decorated with Union Jack bunting, adding a patriotic feeling to this very British style of entertainment where the audience was invited to sing along to classic tunes from the music hall era.
It was impossibe not to join in with the cast's energetic renditions and their A-Z of nostalgic songs was very impressive, even if they did cheat occasionally.
Their alternative "posh" version of 'Show me the way to go home', called 'Indicate the way to my abode', was hilarious.
Routines featuring Swoop the flying seagull and Albert the performing flea had the audience in fits of laughter and called for lots of audience participation.
In one sketch, the cast sang ditties featuring "naughty" lyrics and others littered with ryhming slang - a glossary of terms came in useful here.
Most of the acts were a definite hit but, while John Holland's one-man-band came as a nice surprise, he found it difficult to sing and play the plethora of instruments at the same time and drowned out his dulcet tones.
The whole show could have evoked bad memories of dodgy cabaret at holiday camps in the 1970's, or programmes such as Tonight at the London Palladium - the type of entertainment which, sadly, is still going strong in some quarters today.
But, thankfully, this was all very tongue-in-cheek. I was pleasantly surprised at this lively bunch who had me singing 'Roll out the barrel' and 'Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner', all the way home.

Wendy Keeling