Review: ALLEGRA at Harold Pinter Theatre

I first encountered La Lipman on stage, back in 1986 when she was stealing scenes as the energetic, wise-cracking Ruth Sherwood, in Wonderful Town. Of course she’d previously been noticed in Agony on TV and as Julie Walters' bohemian suicidal flatmate in Educating Rita at the cinema, but this was another level of attention-grabbing, gawky marvellousness. In Peter Quilter’s Gatling-Gun word salad, we first encounter Allegra at home, still in her dressing gown at 3pm, answering the door to her frustrated brother Ronen (John Middleton) who wishes to discuss anti-social behaviour. Hers, rather than his!

The recent spate of incidents where Allegra has unsettled locals with her unsolicited cheery musical outburst is becoming a problem. There have been complaints. The pastry shop, the petrol station, even the Indian restaurant have witnessed the distress of their customers in the presence of her vocal onslaughts. Apparently, nowhere is safe from her involuntary renditions — I say apparently, as we don’t get to witness them for ourselves. Instead, within the comfort of her own four walls we’re treated to milder and distinctly inoffensive versions of The Mamas and the Papas classic Dream A Little Dream of Me, the baseball anthem Take Me Out To The Ball Game, Gene Kelly’s Singin’ In The Rain, twee ditties like Tiptoe Through The Tulips and even the occasional Elvis hip-swinger like That’s All Right. Most are accompanied by a little onstage jig and some amusingly naff projections. In particular the swaying yellow tulips were an absolute hoot.

Ronen decides that Allegra needs help. Help with feeding herself, help with taking her medications and perhaps a little more regular friendly companionship than he is able to commit to, so he introduces Czech home help Anna (Elizabeth Bower) to cook, clean and keep an eye on his frequently wayward sister. Completing the cast line-up is local constabulary member Officer Rogers (Bailey Patrick) who has the unenviable task of keeping the peace while such a wild spirit refuses to be subdued by the evidently dour and miserable local residents who would clearly do better if they simply submitted to her efforts to give them a jolly good cheering-up!

Directed and choreographed by Stephen Mear, the production feels deliberately lightweight and redolent of a gentler age. There is a sweet innocence and naivety to the characters and Dame Maureen has an ever present twinkle in her eye. Vocal pitching was clearly something of an issue on opening night, with perhaps the theatre’s acoustics proving better suited to plays, but the show takes every opportunity to teach us a few home truths around being kinder to each other while touching on more serious subjects like the epidemic of over prescribing medication to deal with ‘unusual cases’.

In all, ALLEGRA proves a pleasant and frequently amusing piece of froth and besides, it’s always a joy to see 80 year old national treasures on stage reminding us how they’ve built their considerable reputations.

ALLEGRA continues at the Harold Pinter Theatre until 8th August and plays 2 hours and 10 mins with an interval.

Allegra Tickets