Review: Spamalot at The Athenaeum Theatre
Review by Greg Gorton
Drew Anthony Creative are putting together one of Australia’s best renditions of Monty Python’s Spamalot, with a brilliant cast, very clever production design, and a contagious sense of enthusiasm. While many will go to see Stephen Curry nail the role of King Arthur, people will be talking about Jaz Flowers well after the run has ended.
Spamalot is, in general, a show you won’t find me getting excited over. At its best, it has some original Eric Idle humour and some fun meta jokes. Most of it, however, is a mediocre attempt at making the original genius of Monty Python and The Holy Grail into a live performance. And it is at its worst when… well, there are moments that remind you that while the troupe were definitely subversive, they were only progressive by the standards of middle England in the sixties.
But if Spamalot is your thing, if Monty Python is something you know is funny but can’t quote, or if you like silly musicals and can overlook relatively minor controversies, then you are going to be in for a wonderful time with the latest iteration.
One thing I really enjoyed about this production was the design - almost the entirety of the physical design was produced by projection onto a backdrop. This includes castles, forests, and even Wooden Rabbits and Black Knights. The early 2000s knight with original Cleese voice, as well as the licenced “God” were brilliant. While some visual elements’ attempts to emulate Gilliam only highlighted the fact that he didn’t draw them, for the most part the colour and craziness fit in well with the artistic visions of the original movie. Does it sometimes look cheap? Yes, but only in the way the film ended a scene with the animator having a stroke. In other words, it works. Very well.
Jason Bovaird’s lighting design for this show is also appropriately spectacular, with vibrant technicolors, and I couldn’t have been more pleased by the lack of fog machines or rotating stages. The specific effects used for the “harmless rabbit” prove what you can really do if you choose creativity over expensive technology, and the costumes by Annette Stivaletta felt authentically Pythonesque, even when they were not (by need) emulating the original film.
Director Drew Anthony has put together a cast of individual brilliant performers. As said, a lot of people are going to go to this show for the AFI winning comedian known for his roles as Graham Kennedy and Dale Kerrigan. Stephen Curry’s Arthur is a long way from Graham Chapman’s, with a King defined by the phrase “this shouldn’t be happening to a king”. His knights, played by Gareth Isaac, Noah Skape, Jesse Vasiliadis, and Ethan Jones are all quite brilliant in their own unique ways. Isaac’s goofy expressions and Vasiliadis’ ability to sell a complete character arc in minutes of stage time are stand out elements in overall impressive work.
Jamie Rolton makes a perfect Patsy, and is always “on”, without stealing the limelight. Jamie, along with Suzie Rolton, also choreographed this production. Their choreography was simple and elegant, with no un-necessary flair, letting the physical farce elements stand out rather than be lost in the crowd. Comedy choreography often gets too complicated for many, and then comes across as either messy or forced. It was easy to laugh at the physical comedy found in this show, thanks to such expert work.
Where the acting doesn’t work in this show isn’t down to any one actor, but a general element that is no stranger in musical comedy. The pacing during the prose scenes was terribly off. No more was evident than in the scenes which emulated the movie, a film where characters bounced back and forth, with not enough gap between lines to fit a snort. Like Marvel movies, modern big shows tend to leave large gaps in their directing in the hope that audience laughter will fill them. Perhaps I’m a traitor to Theatre for saying this, but it’s my opinion, that the audience missing a line or two is worth it for them to roar at how funny a scene is.
For me, the ultimate, singular element that will stay with me from the night was Jaz Flowers as the Lady of the Lake. Perfectly cast for this “sometimes forgotten” role, from her first entrance as the ephemeral spirit, both her voice and appearance convince you that this songstress is mythological. Her comedic timing and expressions rival Carol Cleveland herself, and it is "I'm All Alone", in which the stage only contains her, Curry, and Rolston, that we can see the absolutely best Australian comedy musicals can offer.
Spamalot is in Melbourne, and some very talented people are in it. No, it’s not for hard-core Python fans, but it's been twenty-two years now and they will know it already. If you don’t know the original movie at all, though, this is more for you than you will ever realise.
