Spamalot

This was an extravaganza of a production from the opening words to the very last curtain. On 5th October 1969, when I was sitting in front of a 14” television screen in my living room and watching “Monty Python” for the first time, little would I have thought that nearly 47 years later, I would be in a theatre seeing a show inspired by the six genius comedians in that program. I believe that this “Pythonesque” humour - yes , it is in the dictionary - is timeless and this is borne out by the fact that the majority of the cast were not even born at the time of the original sketches.

All the main roles were brilliantly cast and well deserve an individual mention. Christopher Keene (King Arthur), Alex Brown (Sir Robin), Andy Roberts (Sir Lancelot and 3 other characters), Tim Ede (Patsy and Mayor), Jack Winrow (Sir Galahad and two other characters), Adam Knight (Sir Bedevere and two other characters) and Mark Gordon (5 characters). To comment on these 7 people would probably run me out of superlatives - so I must just leave this as “brilliant”; more so because this casting mix is exactly as the original show when first performed. However, knightly chivalry allows me to extol the part of the Lady of the Lake (Vicky Scales) - this part was wonderfully acted and she had an amazing voice range which was used to its full ability.

The choreography was excellently danced by the whole company in many chorus numbers and there were 6 girls whose terpsichorean skills were brought to the fore for the speciality dance routines. The orchestra of musical director and 11 others expertly supported the soloists and chorus singers alike. The balance was just right.

The scenery was most impressive and the lighting precisely executed.

Congratulations to all of the production team, technical team and the whole cast. I am sure that everyone left the theatre looking on the bright side of life!     

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.