Review by Paul Towers, 10/6/26
Allegra by Peter Quilter
Directed & choreographed by Stephen Mear
Produced by Thomas Hopkins Productions
At Richmond Theatre til Saturday 13th
June 2026 the continues touring.
Allegra is perfectly happy in a world
soundtracked by old showtunes, often in her head but sometimes out loud, much
to the annoyance of some of the locals.
Allegra (the ever fabulous Dame Maureen Lipman)
is definitely a glass half full, type of gal. Her brother Ronen (Emmerdale’s
John Middleton) is the permanently catastrophising glass almost empty type of
guy who is forever attempting to reign in his sister’s exuberance. As she is
forever getting under people’s skin and is in need, he thinks, of a calming
influence, he hires a companion/help in the shape of Czech Anna (Elizabeth
Bower). Despite his best efforts Ronen has to contend with regular visits from
the local bobby Officer Rogers (Bailey Patrick) who Allegra rather takes a
fancy to.
Allegra’s go-to method of coping with life’s
little bumps and hurdles is to fantasise about old showtunes. So, on a regular
basis, the lights go down, the spot comes on and she drags out her old repertoire
of standards. All much to the delight of the audience (the real one).
Once again Peter Quilter has created a
showcase production for one of our older actresses (Ms Lipman is 80!). His
previous hits include Glorious! and Over The Rainbow. Funny how ex-Coronation
Street actresses seem to fit into his writing. I look forward to seeing his
next sure fire hit.
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