Allotment Garden Complex is a fresh new comedy with nice songs and a witty text

Call her cold, distant or lonely, but writer Miranda de Hoop has rented her house between the allotments for a reason. She must write! An “extremely violent feminist thriller” is in the works as an accountant and publisher gasp down Miranda’s neck. While the writer hides behind her laptop, she is continuously disturbed by the other residents of the complex. There is the regular supervisor Barry (Daniel Cornelissen), the old hippie Joop (Rop Verheijen), the mysterious ‘asbestos man’ Evert (also Rop Verheijen). And Miranda’s old mother Anneke (Tina de Bruin) always comes by to deliver garden gnomes.

Allotment Garden Complex is a fresh new comedy with a smooth narrative form: the scenes in the allotment garden are interspersed with fine songs by Jan and Keez Groenteman, who also play roles themselves. Jibbe Willems wrote a witty text with satirical references, in which Miranda herself (a strong role by Ricky Koole) turns out to be an interesting character. Because we look at the allotment garden through her writings, the absurdities that take place can be seen as a glimpse into her dark brain. Miranda is not easy to gauge: how is her relationship with her mother and the men in her life, and how far is she willing to go for her art?

A comedy like Allotment Garden Complex could easily have gotten bogged down in an evening of good skits with predictable characters. But the creative team of director Marije Gubbels has clearly taken a different turn here, in which black humor and thriller elements play a role. That has resulted in something special. The viewer will think the next day: have I had a strange dream or have I really been watching dancing aubergines and cauliflowers?