29 July – 3 August
A trio of multi-talented actor/writers, Nick Bunt, Al Dunn and Matthew Freeman together form Le Navet Bete, an Exeter-based theatre company that specialises in highly skilled physical comedy. They were last seen at the Bristol Old Vic performing their hilarious version of Treasure Island, which was directed and co-written by John Nicholson. He has taken on those responsibilities again in King Arthur.
Right from the get-go it is clear that, in pantomime fashion, there is no fourth wall in this show. We meet three unfortunate squires, Edgar, Osbert and Dave who are locked in the stocks. Audience members in the front rows are encouraged to pelt them with vegetables. After a night of uninhibited boozing with the king, they have foolishly agreed to put on a play at the forthcoming ‘Arthurfest’ which will depict all the great legends of Camelot. The twist is that no such legends exist, so if Camelot is to be long remembered, Edgar, Osbert and Dave will have to invent some. If they fail, the chopping-block awaits.
What follows is multi-layered breathless mayhem. The three actors portray the squires performing all the roles in the legends, such as Merlin, Mordred and Gawain, but they also play all the ‘real’ characters of the court. So, the actual King Arthur and Queen Guinevere are played by the same actors who portray the legendary Arthur and Guinevere, distinguished from their real-life counterparts only by the makeshift nature of their costumes. There are countless entrances and exits, bewilderingly rapid costume changes, daft wigs and dafter accents. There is even a talking horse.
Some of the slapstick comedy is reminiscent of The Three Stooges, with punches landing on chins with loud thwacks and frying-pans hitting heads with a reverberating clang, all with split-second timing. Fi Russell’s set features towers and battlements that transform in an instant into Merlin’s cave or the lake from which the Lady of The Lake magically emerges. The cast appear to be blessed with superhuman energy as they run up and down ladders and stairs or, as in in the case of Merlin’s wife, just up, as she seems incapable of descending, for reasons that remain unclear.
Last night’s performance featured some apparently unscheduled mishaps, including wayward wigs and a collapsing piece of furniture. There is a strong suspicion that these ‘accidents’ happen by design – they certainly add to the fun. The show is brim full of shameless silliness – who knew that the Lady of Shallott bathed in baked beans, or that what was boiling in Merlin’s cauldron was his underwear? Some of the humour is possibly too robust for the youngest in the audience, and perhaps the squires perform one legend more than is necessary, for the second half of the show is a little over-long, but generally King Arthur offers a great deal of laughter for all the family.
★★★★☆ Mike Whitton, 30 July 2024
Photo credit: Craig Fuller
