Happiness police knocking at her door

REVIEW: Allegra – Malvern Theatres (Monday, June 1 to Saturday, June 6). Wednesday and Saturday matinees 2.30pm.

Showtime! stars rating: *  *  *  *  *

“UNHAPPINESS is now the norm!” blurts out Allegra’s bewildered brother as he tries to fathom out why his wacky sister insists on suddenly bursting into song to the annoyance of all within earshot.

Allegra has a tune for every occasion. Oh yes, she does. You name it and she’ll find a song for it. Service stations, supermarkets, the streets… life for this intrepid Tourette’s titwillow seems to be just one long, unpaid gala performance.

But ‘unhappiness is the norm’. Where did the brother’s statement suddenly come from, clunking into the conversation with all the subtlety of a house brick dropping into a metal bucket?

It seems to me that those few words in Peter Quilter’s endlessly evocative and entertaining script hit that proverbial nail of truth right slap bang on the head. For it’s a commentary on today’s Britain, a desperately unhappy place in which the populace has no expectation other than yet more unadulterated misery.

All of which helps to explain the exasperation felt by passers-by when this irritatingly, relentlessly jolly woman suddenly explodes into Singing in the Rain for no apparent reason other than she is blissfully unaware of the reality. Yes, hush her mouth… she’s actually happy!

However, this being the present, people start to complain about all these unfettered, wanton expressions of joy. And so the police eventually come knocking, clearly breaking off for a minute or so from spending all day long trawling through social media for ‘hate crimes’.

Maureen Lipman is, of course, British acting royalty, and she is endlessly and magnificently wonderful in the title role. Striding the stage and singing a number one moment, dancing on the coffee table and twirling the hapless policeman’s truncheon with consummate ease the next, she barely pauses for breath, gloriously defying her chronological age.

And my, has Officer Rogers – played with perfect comic timing by Bailey Patrick – got a job on his hands. And while we’re on the subject of happiness, this policeman’s lot most definitely isn’t a happy one as he gets wrong-footed by the musical miscreant at every turn.

Meanwhile, long-suffering brother Ronen (John Middleton) becomes so worn down by his hyperactive sibling that, adopting the maxim ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,’ he also starts to wake those dormant vocal cords from their slumber.

But when the 1984-style Orwellian character of the court judge orders Allegra to embark on a course of medication, it is too late to stamp out all this anti-social happiness, because by now Allegra also has cleaner Anna (Elizabeth Bower) on her side. And now, all three are ranged against the negativity of the killjoy cop in their midst…

Allegra is a parable of the present, a torch shone into the darkest recesses of the Starmer State, two-tier policing, and the growing urges to crush the spirits of all those who don’t fit the shouty-group-think template.

It is also hilariously funny, as all good mockery should be. Yet at the same time, despite all the mirth, I did occasionally find my thoughts drifting back to the security team stationed on the theatre door, in place all this week for the duration of the play.

Clearly sadly and depressingly necessary in light of the current ethno-tensions, it is nevertheless a sombre footnote to a fabulous play which national acting treasure Ms Lipman has made her very own.

Unhappiness the norm? No, it doesn’t have to be that way. And Peter Quilter’s masterpiece tells us why, defiantly loud and clear.