At Large: Dave Allen - A Journey Through Life

Synopsis

Dave Allen had a unique outlook on life. He had a keen eye for the day to day idiocies, a gift for storytelling and a passion for the absurd. This engaging one man performance explores the life and inimitable humour of a man acknowledged by many as the first alternative comedian.

Our Review:

22 March 2011

Although Dave Allen constructed his tales like jokes he was not really a comedian. At Large, by Kieran Cunningham and Steven McNicoll, places Allen in the tradition of Irish storytellers. Unlike many of his contemporaries Allen preferred to analyse the eccentricities of the Irish and English and to ridicule concepts of religion than to get laughs from stereotypes and casual racism.

Dave Allen looks back on his life as he auditions to enter heaven. Although this concept borders on cliché, it is an effective way providing detail about the subject in particular the origins of Allen’s antagonistic relationship with religion and the source of his anger at the early deaths of his father (himself a raconteur) and his alcoholic brother.

Director Andrew Farrell Readman sets the play in the style of Allen’s stage act, which is a bit static but suits the intimate theatre.Cunningham is vocally perfect as Allen and...

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