An enjoyable hour of escapist silliness with Lecoq-trained collective

The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much
at the North Wall, Oxford
on Thursday, November 2

Review by JON LEWIS

THE Voloz Collective of Lecoq-trained performers from the UK, US and France has created a jolly spoof of espionage thrillers like Our Man Flint fused with westerns resembling High Noon with tumbleweed blowing across a dusty street. Roger (Paul Lofferon), a young Frenchman working in a Mad Men-style advertising agency in New York in 1963 spends his time devising clever slogans for leading brands with the help of his faithful secretary Gretchen (Emily Wheatman).

Lofferon’s a natural comic with a perpetually puzzled face which he puts to great effect when everything literally blows up around him.

With immaculate timing, the company juggling everyday objects that Roger interacts with, a takeaway cup of coffee here, a hat there, Roger is sucked into a vortex of unpredictability.

For reasons he does not understand he is chased around New York by a Russian hit squad led by Elena (Olivia Zerphy), a glamourous spy wearing a floppy red hat, and sassy quip for any dangerous situation. She has an equivocal relationship with her partner, a hoodlum in dark glasses (Sam Rayner) whose language is mostly limited to ‘da’ and ‘nyet’ and whose aim with a revolver is hilariously inaccurate.

Roger becomes an international man of mystery after he flees New York for a tour of European cities where his unexpected skills as a swimmer and parachutist put his exploits on the front pages. Whether Roger is agilely contorting himself over laser beams in a high-security facility or sabotaging the launch of a rocket in Siberia, he maintains his Norman Wisdom-like ability never to be surprised by his challenges.

The comedy includes a delightfully revisionist scene in Dallas concerning JFK’s open-car ‘assassination’, ending with a fight that would not be out of place in Kill Bill.

Frederick Waxman’s musical accompaniment is integral to the performance, his sound design creating the noise of the cities. The Keystone Cops tunes for the chase scenes keep the fun going from the get-go. The fast pace and the surprising plot twists somehow enhance the rather bizarre relationships Roger develops with Gretchen and Elena.

An enjoyable hour of escapist silliness.