Island amateur dramatic society, The Service Players, are excited to announce the return of Blackadder this May, with Blackadder II premiering at the Gaiety Theatre next Thursday 14th May, for a three night run.

The Service Players are responsible for several popular shows over the last few years, with Alex Brindley at the directorial helm of those based on popular TV series. ‘Allo ‘Allo!, Blackadder Goes Forth and 2014’s hugely successful Fawlty Towers are all ticked off Alex’s ‘to do list’.

The audience will likely recognise some of the actors in this performance. Howard Caine hits the stage again as Blackadder himself. For anyone who saw Fawlty Towers last year, Karl Bovenizer who portrayed Basil will be treading the boards as Baldrick, Beth Espey who relished her strict role as Sybil will be taking on the same aura whilst embodying the terrifying Queen Elizabeth. These are just a few of the talents performing; the scripts of the hit episodes Beer, Bells and Chains actually require quite a large ensemble cast.

When asked why Blackadder II was chosen, Alex answered:

“We have really relished exploring some of the truly brilliant examples of British TV comedy in the past few years. This year the world of Blackadder seemed far too tempting not to return to! Upon revisiting the scripts from the TV show, we could imagine portraying the lavishly costumed world of Tudor England on the Gaiety stage, and we realised that characters such as Queen Elizabeth and Lord Flasheart just had to be a part of this production.”

Alex continued:

“The costumes have been imported from London especially for the performances; every detail is crucial to bringing together a successful and memorable performance. As always with these shows, it’s a lot of hard work in an extremely short space of time... everyone behind the scenes puts in a huge amount of logistical work to ensure that by opening night everything runs smoothly from learning a huge amount of lines, to the small production team who have to source costumes, props, set dressing and work out how we can safely shoot a bow and arrow into Baldrick’s groin every night without a trip to A&E!”

As soon as the Gaiety curtain rises, the audience will be transported into the world of Blackadder and Tudor England. Get ready to be leaving with tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks!

Grab your tickets now – the show is only on for three nights 14th, 15th and 16th May at 7:30pm, with a captioned performance for the hard of hearing on Friday 15th May.

Tickets available online at www.villagaiety.com, by calling 600555 or from the Welcome Centre at the Sea Terminal.