The Accidental Dog Detective - Fringe 2009
Live Review

There’s a lot of charm in stand-up Paul Harry Allen’s first attempt at shadow puppetry, but that only goes so far. While the performances are endearing, especially the range of accents and the dexterity needed to switch scenes, the jokes are to thin on the ground.

Production values are also a problem – not that you would expect much from an overhead projector and some cardboard cutouts. The difficulty is trying to hear two unamplified voices coming from behind a screen, although even the pre-recorded soundtrack has all the volume of an asthmatic mouse trying to make a secret phone call in the quiet coach.

The film noir tale involves Harry Towel, private investigator, employed by a curvaceous, mysterious woman (played by Lottie Maslin-Prothero) to find out whether her husband is really a puppet or not. The plot is as labyrinthine as you would expect from the genre, but with added surrealism, incorporating evil twins, a hotel run by a wasp-and-cockroach team and a donkey singer who once opened for Sinatra.

It’s gently amusing, with its movie parodies, daft puns and affectionate ribbing of Sesame Street – especially Bert and Ernie – and a nice touch that Towel’s internal voiceovers aren’t quite as internal as he thinks. A couple of smart visual gags in the no-budget puppetry also provide some memorable moments.

Yet it doesn’t quite command the attention: the story is easy to lose track of, with rushed scenes that don’t hang together coherently, and too many of the gags elicit wry smiles rather than hearty chuckles.

Allen admits he’s new to puppetry and he’s made a decent fist of this first attempt. He should keep the idea going, if only he can overcome the technical limitations of this Free Festival venue and the confused nature of the script.