Does genre spoof work without a contemporary hook? In the case of Sparrow Heights, a brisk journey through World War Two action adventures, spy movies and general tales of derring-do, it's hard not to walk out at the end asking, simply, why?

It is 1943 and the Nazis have captured a certain General George Geoffrey Bungle of Strategic High Command and have taken him to SPARROW HEIGHTS, the most feared prison in all of Germany...ever.

The show is based around the actitivies of the aforementioned prison, with an hour of capery which is akin to the Great Escape, but designed for a theatre audience.

The four-strong cast bring an infectious energy to proceedings and there is plenty of running around, jumping, character-switching, sweating and shouting to keep up the energetic pace.

The plot – four terribly brave chaps (or is it three chaps and a chapette? Or four chaps and another, cross-dressing chap? The details really aren't important) set out to rescue a General with a secret from a high-security Nazi prison – serves only as a backdrop to a stream of innuendo and non-stop punning.

The mood is light, the use of sound effects and props ingenious and the hammy acting just the right side of regional pantomime.

The show does have some good points but at times I felt like I was watching a reasonable attempt to transpose Blackadder Goes Forth forward twenty years, minus the bleak satire.

If character names like Major John Smith Carling-Black-Label-Brew and General George Geoffrey Bungle are enough to have you choking over your tea and crumpets, then you're in for a treat.

Alex Olorenshaw

Sparrow Heights is appearing:

Dates:
12th May – 7th June 2009 (Please note - No performance on May 30th)
Tue–Sat at 8pm, Sun at 4pm

Venue:
Greenwich Playhouse, Greenwich Station Forecourt, 189 Greenwich High Road
London SE10, 8JA

Tickets:
£12 (£10 concs)

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