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The Jewish Chronicle

Review: Spamalot

July 8, 2010 10:18
Marcus Brigstocke and Jodie Prenger in the gloriously silly Spamalot

By

John Jeffay

2 min read

Spamalot is a mix of camped-up musical, Monty Python silliness and Arthurian legend that would have even the most-hardened detractor of Cleese, Palin, Idle et al whistling along to a final reprise of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

Browse the list of musical numbers and you get a feel for just how silly it is. It opens with the Fisch Schlapping Song, then He Is Not Dead Yet, in which a plague-ridden corpse insists he is still fit enough to join King Arthur, followed by His Name is Lancelot, in which the newly-outed knight "likes to dance a lot".

Spamalot has been, as the blurb puts it, "lovingly ripped off" from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail by Eric Idle and John du Prez. It is a parody of itself, and of all that is popular about stage musicals. It would be hard to go wrong with such an appealing script and rousing songs, and Spamalot has already had successful runs on Broadway, the West End and elsewhere since it opened in 2005.

The small cast in this slimmed-down production, directed by Christopher Luscombe, do a fine job as they scurry between numerous role switches.