They're all there and how lovely it is to have them back, the greatest moments from Monty Python And The Holy Grail repackaged and regurgitated in Eric Idle's musical version.
The other Pythons were reportedly nonplussed by Idle's creation, feel
ing it added little that was new. The truth is that it didn't need to. There was silliness enough in the film - and it is beautifully recreated by a top cast inicluding Marcus Brigstocke as King Arthur, Hayley Tamaddon as Lady of the Lake and Todd Carty as Patsy.
Other classic sketches are referenced; and there are even a couple of delightful mickey-takes of the world of musicals and the truly-awful songs that some of them throw up.
It's funny. It really is.
Amd there's an infectious sense that the cast are enjoying it all as much as we are - just as they should be given the sheer quality of those great scenes on offer.
The film version - like so much of Python - was occasionally bogged down by bits that didn't work, but they've been discarded here on a night which celebrates that wonderful mix of invention and pure battiness which marked Python at its best.
Phil Hewitt
