Produced by Happy Sad Productions

Review by Judith Neeson

Happy sad productions present “Monty Python’s Spamalot” this week at Portobellos town hall. Eric Idles infamous farce requires a high level of fast paced slap stick with excellent comedic timing and Happy sad productions does not fail to bring this to their performance of the musical parody.  

King Arthur is on his quest to recruiting his knights of the round table as he journeys to Camelot although this rapidly becomes an additional quest for the holy grail and the creation of an amazing musical. Accompanied by his “horse” and companion, Patsy, brilliantly captured by Laura Walsh they deliver non-stop banter which is a joy to watch with Patsy using a halved coconut to create the sound effect of the horse hooves. Arthur, played by Stephen Donaldson, delivers a compounding and top-class comedic lead role commanding his knights of the round table with a great energy and strong vocals to boot. 

Directionally, Amber Doherty has placed several genius staging choices that emulate the film version of the show, which are excellently delivered by the ensemble and smaller parts. In addition, a mash up of pure silliness and segues, linked to modern takes and spin-offs on current affairs, leave this parody nothing short of hilarious. Moments using the curtain to quicken scene changes added another level of hilarity when used for slapstick impact. Assistant director and choreographer Roza Stevenson has crafted beautifully polished dances which are executed with great energy and are incredibly infectious and entertaining to watch.   
 

Puppetry created by Jake Keenan and representational parody were used consistently well and this production was simply laugh out loud in virtually every scene sometimes even a laugh a minute. 
The set design emulates the vibe of a low budget high school play which works well with the overall genre of the piece. Sometimes sightlines are compromised simply due to the audience chairs being so low down from the stage, however, the breaking of the fourth wall and use of the upper balconies throughout are cleverly chosen for moments when they have the best comical impact.  

The Lady of the lake, played by Justyne Snyder, is excellently cast. Quite simply Snyder is nothing short of vocal perfection. Her stage presence equal to her vocal ability is top class and highly entertaining to watch. Snyder takes the character to another level of performance which the audience showed continuous high appreciation for with every appearance made or the execution of every incredible vocal mash up. The delivery of “The song that goes like this” is a real highlight and is balanced well with Jack Mailer playing Dennis/Sir Galahad. With hair flicks on point and diva delivery from both Mailer and Snyder they simply smash this number with great energy and exaggerated over acting receiving a well-deserved resounding applause.   
 

Unfortunately, some sound issues in relation to stage mics let them down and did affect how well some of the dialogue and lyrics landed. Sir Robin played by Arlo Bayne just gets on with making a brilliant knight and second in command to Arthur. With a delusional understanding of what is to be a member of King Arthurs army they deliver a great level of side kick comical moments especially with the song “You won’t succeed on Broadway.” There are great relatable modern choices added to the song, however the sound issues were frequently occurring with Bayne’s moments and this impacted in the overall delivery of the number. In saying this, the show still sustained high class performances and entertainment. Prince Herbert, in particular, played by Jay Brown equally had some moments where they stole the show and delivered high level of comedic performance in addition to great vocals.  

Musical director Josh Wood led his band from strength to strength with every number and solo moments were well timed and delivered with great clarity. Lighting by Alice McDougall was equally well executed and there were great moments of immersive mood created with lighting cleverly chosen adding great moments of excitement and anticipation from start to finish. 

Happy sad productions should be extremely proud of the work they have done to deliver a high calibre of talent from their lead roles to their ensemble performers. Everyone has worked tirelessly to deliver a performance full of hilarity, joy, silliness and pure comedic genius throughout their performance of “Spamalot”.
 

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