‘lurches into the surreal, and quite literally loses the plot’ ★ ½

For something that is billed as a comedy there are very few laughs in this play. I saw it on opening night – where I was 8% of the sparse audience – and most of us were stony faced throughout.

Leonard (Kieran Slade) is a nervous, geeky film buff who’d quite like promotion at work. In this he is encouraged by his friend/work colleague, Jasmine (Isabella Inchbald). The boss’s daughter Elyse (Rosina Aichner) is reasonably friendly while colleague Bradley (Adam Fitzgerald who wrote the play) is a brash Australian employee shoving a spanner in the works.  Then it all lurches into the surreal, and quite literally loses the plot, when Leonard goes home and the actor Martin McConaughey (Adam Fitzgerald doubling) leaps out of a VHS tape and announces he’s a genie. Hmm. 

What on earth this tortuous play is meant to be about is a mystery. Is it a homage to Martin McConaughey? There are a lot of cultish references to his films but if you’re not familiar with them then that falls flat. Is it about the relationship between parents and children? Aichner doubles quite effectively as Leonard’s well meaning but irritating mother and Inchbald is strong as Elyse’s humourless, tyrannical German mother who owns the company the others work for although it’s very much a stereotype. Or maybe it’s about building self-esteem and “finding your identity” – a pretty clichéd cop-out if so.

It’s a pity because a lot of work has clearly gone into this production. Moreover the cast are doing their best with a flawed muddle of a play. Inchbald in particular finds plenty of nuance in the long suffering Jasmine and Slade manages the contrast between Leonard and his all-American alter ego Leo (inspired by McConaughey) reasonably well.

Alright, Alright, Alright runs 80 minutes without interval and it gives me no pleasure at all to report that it feels a lot longer.

Alright, Alright, Alright by Adam Fitzgerald at Bridge House Theatre 13 – 24 May

Directed by Neta Gracewell

Box Office https://thebridgehousetheatre.co.uk/shows/alright-alright-alright/

This review was first published by London Pub Theatres Magazine:https://www.londonpubtheatres.com/review-alright-alright-alright-by-adam-fitzgerald-at-bridge-house-theatre-13-24-may-2025