Spamalot

It happened last year with the King’s Lynn Operatic and Dramatic Society’s production of ‘Sister Act’. A buzz about a production hits social media and it becomes evident from the comments of the cast …. something really special is about to happen. Well the buzz around The Watlington Players presentation of Eric Idle and John Du Prez’s ‘Spamalot’ was impossible to avoid, and, by the time show week arrived, totally deafening. So here I was, trembling with anticipation and excitement desperate for the curtain to go up on the most talked about show of the year!
To declare my position from the start, it is well-known that I am not a huge fan of high comedy. I like my laughs interleaved with tears and I think for something to be truly funny a little pathos is required. I am also not a huge Monty Python fan!!!! Sacrilege! I hear you cry! I do think ‘Life Of Brian’ is the funniest film ever made, but only because it is not in the usual Python style. I didn’t like ‘Holy Grail’, finding it frivolous and self-indulgent and not overly funny. But I have seen a professional touring production of Spamalot … and wet my pants laughing!
I won’t mess you around, there was never any doubt in my mind that this would be a benchmark production for  the Watlington Players, and for this area and … of course that’s exactly what it was. So if you are offended by endless platitudes and rampant sycophantic ramblings combining strings of pretentious superlatives … look away now, you are going to hate this review! Maître D, Cyril Pike was on the door as usual and the village hall had been converted (once again) into a theatre with the installation of that excellent raked seating that changes the dynamics of the space very much for the better.
In short, this production was big … very, very big, and a return to the feel of a large musical like ‘The Music Man’ had been a few years back. The set (design by Tom Powell and built by Tom Powell, Richard Bennett, Kevin Rooney, Cameron Lewis, Debbie Bennett with painting by Emma Littler, Scott Wood and Debbie Bennett) was outstanding and there seemed to be a new piece of it for every scene. Sound (pre-recorded backing tracks) and lighting were in the capable hands of Barry Ayres and were magnificent, even if the balancing of backing and vocal took a while to settle. Costumes (Judy Parsons) were breath-taking, and in such quantities that I enquired after the show haw many had there had actually been. I kid you not when I report that figures north of 140 were bandied! It wasn’t just the quantity that was remarkable, it was the quality as well, with each scene and every dance routine introducing a new set of kit. Make-Up (Jenny Lewis) was top notch and incidental props (too many to mention) also in great abundance and all adding greatly to the enormity of the whole spectacular production. There were also some pretty good video effects (Ian Gooda) and some nice projections (Claire Cooper) to help things along.
.. and so to the cast. It was vast! More than just a clever rhyming couplet but a statement of complete fact. 33! If you include Sophie Sharp … and I most certainly do! All of which were quite clearly revelling in the amateur theatre night of their lives. Every single person (no exceptions) delivered up to, or beyond, the best I have seen from them in this venue, with this society. That, my friends in itself is an incredibly powerful endorsement. The chorus did so much that it seems disrespectful to call them merely chorus but I will be damned if I am not going to name every single one of them! Lucy Bearpark (Wench), Kathryn Marshall (Ni Knight/Spam Girl), Adrian Baxter (Monk), Mike Cooke (Monk), Irene Whitehouse (Nun), Jenny Baxter (Nun), Rachel Marshall (Nun), Cate Waters (Nun, Frenchie), Abbi Gosling (Minstrel) and  Mandi Field (Minstrel).
The dance troupe for this production featured all my favourite Watlington hoofers and they popped up with reassuring regularity and delivered some pretty slick choreography (Emily Law). Harriet Stanley, Becca Field, Lucy Beeton, Katy Beeton combined with the sublime Jane Pearce and sundry others to add movement to every song. The most spectacular move of the production came from nowhere as Hugh Pearce (omnipresent) took his wife, Jane Pearce and did the head banger with Mrs P smiling as her head passed less than two inches from the stage. Clearly the woman is worth more to Mr Pearce alive than dead but to me it was priceless, and something I have never seem accomplished on an amateur stage before!
In what would have to be classed as the supporting roles Leslie Judd was in fine form as Brother Maynard and Sam Lord did a great job as the Stupid Guard. I know I say this every time, but Allan Lord is a superb actor and it has frustrated me that sometime he looks uncertain of words or movement. But, right from the start of this production he just looked completely confident … supremely confident, imperious even and just seemed to be caught up in the moment with a performance that did him nothing but credit. I love Georgia Smith, such a lovely young lady and so enthusiastic, hardworking, committed and talented. As a Ni Knight she was great, as Lancelot’s Squire Concorde she was hilarious and as the Killer Rabbit  ….I nearly died laughing!  On this night (or is it Knight) of a thousand stars another young man in his prime was Ben Robinson who managed one of the best comic perfomances of the night with his delightful characterisation of Herbert.
Steve Brooks also managed some top performances with (amongst others) Herbert’s Father and the Black Night, the latter being a sequence that was extremely well delivered with the use of some excellent props. Watlington newcomer, Tom Tree, just gets better and better and as Galahad’s Mother and the Knight of Ni he was outstanding. With the latter part he was actually outstanding on some very high stilts! He may have been always getting his teeth done, getting married, having babies or washing his hair but I haven’t half missed Matthew Austin. He had become just a little over exposed back then …and the rest he has taken made it all the more exciting to see him back. The wackiest of all the roles in this production was Tim the Enchanter, but it was Mr Austin's French Taunter that brought the house down! The man has such great comic timing and an in-built sense of the preposterous, both talents he used to their best advantage with these two unforgettable cameos.
In the more prominent roles, Hugh Pearce was at the very top of his game with Sir Bedevere and ‘Not Yet Dead’ Fred. Both parts gave Mr Pearce numerous chances to air his comic genius. Did I mention him swinging his wife around? (that’s swinging in the purest sense)
Liam Baker did a nice job with the part of Lancelot and got one of the biggest laughs of the night with his “camp” dance routine. Watlington and King’s Lynn regular, Tom Watson hasn’t been about much lately, but he came out of semi-retirement to do a cracking job in the part of Sir Robin, and when the Head Minstrel (wonderful Debbie Bennett) sang ‘Brave Sir Robin’.... I laughed until I cried. Mrs Bennett was outstanding throughout, but then she always is!
It is difficult to know where the supporting cast ends and the leads start in a production like this, but in what I would consider the main parts I loved Ian Gooda as Sir Galahad. The perfect wig for the part and his duet with The Lady of the Lake in ‘The Song That Goes Like This’ was an absolute show stopper! The reasons for this were two fold, Mr Gooda, and the enchanting Megan Abbott who was the aforementioned Lady of the aforementioned Lake. Miss Abbott is always good value in any Watlington production and this one was no exception. I struggled slightly to hear her over the music in the first half but Director Kerslake was straight up at the interval to make the necessary adjustments. Miss Abbott has a very accurate singing voice but lacks a little power so it was nice to see her with a microphone on at least one occasion.
In a show that gives almost every performer a chance to take centre stage, and in a production when everyone of those performers seemed to be delivering their very best, deciding the best of the best was always going to be difficult. I have to say, a major contender (which is why he is getting his own paragraph) would be Tom Powell as the King’s servant Patsy. Mr Powell is always there or there abouts but can sometimes be a little disconnected. Not so with this part. Mr Powell was perfection as he banged his coconuts together, sang and danced with the crowd pleasing ‘Always Look On the Bright Side of Life’ among my personal highlights. He also helped deliver another of my favourites ‘I’m All Alone’ with David Brammer as King Arthur.
… and it is to that very same David Brammer that I must award penultimate paragraph honours. His portrayal of King Arthur was a masterclass of straight man acting that became the backbone of the show. It allowed so many of the comedy characters the space to do their thing. His singing voice was perfection, and his delivery pinpoint on every syllable of every word. Without a doubt the best perfomances I have seen Mr Brammer deliver in all the years I have known him.
I won’t lie to you Matthew Kerslake. There were those who wondered if you could pull this off, but actually, I was never one of them. I thought that with all the talent you have over there right now, that this was a show made for Watlington. I did not however dream that you could achieve anything like this standard. In comedy (and straight) acting, in singing, dancing, and in creating an unforgettable atmosphere. What a complete pleasure to be in that hall being reminded why amateur theatre is the best team game in the world and how much fun it can be to take the final bow in a show that will be talked about for years to come. I take my hat of completely to you Mr Director for all the inspirational ideas in this production not least of all that Sophie Sharp Cameo and the wonderful costuming that went with it. A thousand congratulations Watlington … the buzz hasn’t stopped yet!

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