Spamalot

Tuesday 27th February 2007. 3pm. Matinee Performance.

An extraordinary buzz surrounded the auditorium of the Palace Theatre before the afternoon’s matinee of Spamalot commenced.

The audience, by average old enough to be original fans of Monty Python were joined in their excitement by a moderate selection of younger fans aging from as young as about 17.

The show commenced in typical Python fashion, with fish slapping and the wrong play completely appearing on stage. After, the wrong play issue was corrected, Spamalot began.

Spamalot, a self-described ‘loving rip- off of Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ began brightly and did not once lose the energy that it started with. The script, written by Monty Python’s own Eric Idle, bar a few scenes is a re- tread of the script word for word. Which in turn guaranteed the audience the same Python jokes they were hoping to see.

Understudy for King Arthur, Craige Els was note perfect as he led by example with a performance reminiscent of the original Spamalot King Arthur, Tim Curry.

With inspired original musical numbers (including a few old favourite such as the “fish schlapping song”, “Knights of the round table” and the legendary, “Always look on the bright side of life” Spamalot is a worthy addition to the Monty Python repertoire and proof that the humour of Monty Python can really last the test of time, generation and genre. A must see for Python fans.