Spymonkey's Moby Dick in epic voyage
Comedians sail close to wind with re-telling of classic tale.
FROM the moment Spymonkey's Moby Dick set sail you knew that it would be a voyage of discovery.
The once weighty American classic about Ahab's obsessional pursuit of a giant whale has been shanghaied by a group of European Jack tars and turned into one of the funniest and most surreal comedies of the year.
Spymonkey are now off sailing around the country on a nationwide tour but they broke the bow of their latest production at Northampton's Royal & Derngate Theatre.
The Royal stage was transformed into the decks of Herman Melville's whaling ship, the Pequod, or at least half of it (cue lots of slapstick humour as the crew attempted to remain on the abridged deck).
They say sailors are a peculiar shoal and there could have been nothing more fishy than this cast – a heavy accented Spaniard, chosen as the narrator because of his "perfect" English, a German, a mad Englishwoman and a rather handsome Brit prone to disguising himself with a succession of props.
They're probably completely at home at the Edinburgh Fringe or in any number of European shows where there's an emphasis on physical, off-the-wall comedy but how will they fare in traditional theatres on British shores ?
My guess is rather well. The audience at The Royal's press night were convulsed at the antics of the ship's company. It's silly, irreverent, puerile, and very funny.
Our lovelorn narrator Ishmael (Aitor Basauri) embarks on an adventure on board the Pequod. It's Massachusetts, USA, 1841, and that's about as close to the real story as this scurvy crew ever get.
Throughout the yarn the cast of four take on different roles from Ahab (as you'd expect) with Toby Park sporting the garb of Abraham Lincoln, a bad fake leg and even worse beard, to a French-speaking cannibal savage harpooneer (Stephen Kreiss).
The barking mad Petra Massey, who admits she's "a complete nutter", brings the house down with each quick-change appearance, whether she's playing a lunatic Scots sailor, a mermaid, or a girl in a vibrant red wig sporting nothing more than inflatable rubber rings.
"This means absolutely nothing!" scoffs Park at her latest creation – and he's right – but it was still funny.
At one point they're all dressed as disco-dancing, day-glo anemones before Massey goes on to sing one of the most original, risqu and hysterical songs about an ova I've ever heard.
It's all very silly, like a maritime pantomime for adults, with a finale that features a candle-lit choir singing Bright Eyes.
Spymonkey's rendition of this American classic may not have depth, and in places is almost unfathomable, but it's a buoyant comedy that guarantees audiences a whale of a time.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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