Paul T Davies reviews King Arthur at the Mercury Theatre Colchester.
King Arthur
Mercury Theatre, Colchester. (And touring).
28 May 2024
4 Stars
Sometimes a show makes you laugh so much, and leaves you in such admiration for the physical and comedic skills of the performers, you just want to throw your critical hat away and enjoy the ride. Such is the case with the mighty Le Navet Bete, returning to the Mercury for the fourth time, building up a strong following, with their irreverent, hilarious parody of King Arthur. As with their previous shows, this is high octane comedy, with a huge number of gags, brilliant slapstick, some near the knuckle humour, (though the kids in the audience loved the word “arse”), and some convincing mistakes that looked very real!
The company work as a collective, the three performers, Nick Bunt, Al Dunn and Matt Freeman, multi roll with ease, embroidering the King Arthur legends with high camp, superb music, (especially the selection of hits), and enough meta theatre to entertain the audience royally. The slapstick is outstanding, timed perfectly and in synergy with on point sound effects, and nothing is sacred for their naughty humour! They are about the only company that can get away with a knitted willy in a family show! As the pressure mounts for the three characters to present a show about King Arthur at Arthur Fest, the pace becomes more manic, and director and co-writer John Nicholson keeps a tight rein on proceedings.
It's two hours of inspired silliness and slick tomfoolery played out on a superb set by Fi Russell, who also costumes the production with panache. It’s perfect for all ages, and offers hilarious solace from the woes of the world. Catch it on tour, and enjoy this Camelot in all its body stockinged glory!
Tour details: King Arthur – Le Navet Bete
Paul is a playwright, director, actor, academic, (he has a PhD from the University of East Anglia), teacher and theatre reviewer! His plays include Living with Luke, (UK tour 2016), Play Something, (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/Drayton Arms Theatre, London 2018), , (2019), and now The Miner’s Crow, which won the inaugural Artist’s Pick of the Fringe Award at the first ever Colchester Fringe Festival 2021. In lockdown 2020 he created the audio series Isolation Alan, available on Youtube, and performed online in the Voice Box Festival. He is the founder member of Stage Write, a Colchester based theatre company, and his acting roles include Rupert in How We Love by Annette Brook, first performed at the Vaults Festival 2020 and revived at the Arcola and at Theatre Peckham in 2021. Follow: @stagewrite_
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