ALLEGRA
Richmond Theatre
★★★★
“The chemistry between them is comedy-duo gold dust”
‘Unhappiness is the new normal’ quips Ronen midway through Peter Quilter’s bittersweet comedy. ‘Then why am I the one taking the pills?’ replies Allegra, the title character. A simple retort, almost childlike in its innocence, but it encapsulates the deeper questions that are lurking just below the surface of this uplifting and fiercely funny new play. ‘Allegra’ – a melodic name – derives from the Italian musical term, ‘Allegro’, which means joyful, happy and lively. Dame Maureen Lipman certainly lives up to the description with a tour-de-force performance that brings to life eccentricity and vulnerability in all their various shades.
Allegra lives alone in an unnamed English village, filling the empty spaces with her joie-de-vivre and with her endless and irresistible urge to burst into song. Not just at home, but in the streets, at the bakery, the local service station, in the cafes and even the care home at the end of the lane. She can’t always tell, however, whether she is singing out loud or whether it is just in her head. More often than not, it is the former, which apparently causes problems. A challenge that her brother Ronen has to address. Enlisting the help of Czech carer Anna, he vainly tries to keep the long arm of the law at bay, which inevitably comes knocking in the shape of local bobby, Officer Rogers.
The action takes place on Justin Williams’ interior set; a fittingly grand and multi-coloured mash-up of styles, oddities and accessories reflecting the quirkiness of its inhabitant. Lipman has the lion’s share of Quilter’s sharp dialogue and one-liners, which trip off her tongue as though straight from her own fertile mind. John Middleton plays her restrained but neurotic brother Ronen, delicately balancing the desire to kerb his sister’s behaviour without diminishing her happiness. The chemistry between them is comedy-duo gold dust. Polar opposites, they don’t realise how much they have in common. Through Anna’s eyes, Ronen is just as odd. Elizabeth Bower gives a nuanced performance as Anna, injecting playfulness and empathy into the character’s ironic, quasi-European overbearance. Into the mix stumbles Officer Rogers; a figure of bumbling authority that Bailey Patrick sends up to the hilt.
Stephen Mear’s assured direction accentuates the comedic talents of the four cast members. The hour long first act sits very comfortably in the realm of television sitcom: we could very easily see the play developing into an ongoing series on the small screen. Act two wanders a little off-script, treading into darker territory with touches of Kafkaesque surrealism. Mixed with hints of farce it sits a bit unsteadily with the crux of the piece. Some transitions into song are a bit clumsy, but the ensemble routines, once we have crossed over into make-believe, are a joy to watch. The more realistic moments, however, fare better, when Lipman naturally drifts into a Capella singing as a natural extension of her joyous personality.
There are allegorical references to the subject of mental health, examining society’s response to – and treatment – of it. But even in the blacker moments we still laugh out loud. Happiness (or rather the expression of it) is viewed as a problem – an addiction even. “Some people do cocaine – I do cabaret. The funny thing is that it’s the cabaret that gets up people’s noses”. Both writer and director never lose sight of the comedy and, suffice to say, we are soon crashing head on into an uplifting and happy ending. And enjoying every moment of the ride, of which Maureen Lipman is the driving force. We may not particularly go along with her choice of song, but we certainly leave the theatre with a song in our hearts. Rightly so, the show is already heading to the West End. Let’s hope that there are some TV executives in the audience.
ALLEGRA
Richmond Theatre then UK Tour continues
Reviewed on 8th June 2026
by Jonathan Evans
Photography by Marc Brenner
