Tuneful cast hamalot in Spamalot (From Swindon Advertiser)

Tuneful cast hamalot in Spamalot

11:28am Wednesday 25th January 2012 in Reviews

AND now for something completely different...well not completely different if you’ve ever seen a Monty Python sketch or been to a musical.

King Arthur (played by Marcus Brigstocke) and his Knights of the Round Table have cantered into Oxford and look set to have the place roaring with laughter by the end of the week with Spamalot, the musical which is ‘lovingly ripped off from Monty Python and the Holy Grail’.

Now I admit, I’m not the world’s biggest Monty Python fan (please don’t throw things) and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the films (okay, I probably deserve to have things thrown at me for that) but it didn’t matter. It was a thoroughly enjoyable night out and a good piece of theatre.

The cast was strong with Bonnie Langford (Lady of the Lake) playing up the diva role, some fantastic performances from the Knights – Sir Galahad (Jon Robyns) has a wonderful voice – and the scene where Arthur and the Knights are insulted by French soldiers was hilarious.

There are plenty of topical jokes, Python references, and Eric Idle even makes a cameo appearance as God.

For me the star of the show was former Eastenders star Todd Carty, who played Arthur’s loyal servant Patsy. You can probably count the number of lines he had on one hand but that didn’t stop him from stealing the show.

And of course, he gets to sing the song everyone in the auditorium was dying to hear, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life. Don’t worry, the audience gets to join in too and you’ll be humming it all the way home.

– Stephanie Tye