A Grave Situation

They say war is Hell, but for the Wilberforce boys, it’s also Heaven and Huddersfield. Flippant and unwaveringly hammy, this WWII musical comedy is carried off with all the explosive force of a hand grenade. The action follows a hopelessly dimwitted band of five brothers from their gravedigging business in Yorkshire to the beaches and bars of Dunkirk and back – not to mention a stopover in the underworld.

Though fans of the genre will undoubtedly get more out of this new production, a riotous performance from Young Pleasance’s 20-strong cast provides a level of energy that the casual viewer will find hard to resist. The stage is populated exclusively by tongue-in-cheek stereotypes: the RAF consists of demented, pipe-smoking toffs, the Nazis are camp, cackling baddies, and the frivolous French carry baguettes as standard. Expect some seriously cheesy, though skillful wordplay and a rapid-fire style of delivery that mixes pidgin French with cawing Yorkshire accents. Add to that impressive production values—peaking when a single parachute becomes a cloudy purgatory governed by bureaucratic Brits (Hell is, naturally, run by krauts)—and it all amounts to an accomplished, pleasingly chaotic show.

Unfortunately, the frenetic pace does leave the edges a little rough. While slightly clumsy movements are hardly a problem, a muddy chorus occasionally lays waste to well-thought-out lyrics, while some spoken gags are lost in the commotion – all flaws that could be remedied with ease.

Subtlety, brains and musical originality are gleefully discarded here, but if it’s shameless entertainment you’re after, this thoroughly disrespectful blowout will do nicely.