King Arthur – Newcastle Theatre Royal | 10th March 2025
Invited| Review by Stephen Stokoe
I was delighted to be invited along to the fabulous Newcastle Theatre Royal to see the return of Le Navet Bete as they returned with their tale on the tales and legends surrounding King Arthur and the origins stories of his glorious knights of the round table. I first encountered ‘Bete’ when I reviewed their wonderfully silly but extremely entertaining version of Treasure Island the last time they visited Newcastle.
As the audience arrived they saw an open stage with a multi-layered set cast in darkness. As the lights rose we were welcomed by a voice-over not dissimilar to the opening to Spamalot which set the scene perfectly. Any ideas that this was going to be a serious depiction of historical or even mythical event were soon dispelled as the troupe of three took their places in the stocks to which they had been sentenced by a most disgruntled King Arthur. What followed was the story as to how the hapless trio of squires, Osbert, Edgar and Dave had ended up in such a pickle. Pickle is very appropriate at this juncture because as the voice-over instructed the onlookers to throw vegetables so, the suitably encouraged front row did just that. Thus began a tale of treachery, cross-dressing, shenanigans and one prosthetic appendage which entertained the audience from beginning to end through a plethora of characters all performed by tireless actors, Nick Bunt, Al Dunn and Matt Freeman.
A young King Arthur is on the throne of England’s green and pleasant land but his popularity is waning. He comes up with the plan to hold a grand celebration ‘ArthurFest’ to celebrate his royal credentials. After an unlikely drinking session with the king, Dave, suggests they perform a play celebrating Englishness and the heroic exploits of the ‘Legend’ King Arthur and his mighty knights to headline the festival. Dave returns to his comrades to tell them that if they are successful, they too will be made knights of the realm. If, however, they are not successful, they are worse than dead men walking. It is at this point his two friends point out that they have no experience, talent and that even if they did, the young King Arthur is not the legend he thinks he is and life in Blighty is not really all it’s cracked up to be.
The squires, however, value their own lives more than to let these mere facts get in the way of a good story so they begin to research the main personae dramatis of the piece and seek acting advice from a passing singing performer before meeting Merlin, his wife, King Arthur’s great love, Guinevere, Lancelot and various other would be knights of the Round Table, all of whom are, frankly, as mad as a proverbial box of frogs and hardly epic story material. As the curtain falls on act one the audience is left wondering what manner of calamities and mishaps will befall the trio of troubled troubadours in act two.
Act two is essentially the premiere and only performance of King Arthur – The Legend as performed at Arthurfest and the links and signposts laid in act one are cleverly interwoven into the performance.
Le Navet Bete (The Daft Turnip, in case you are interested) work tirelessly through a myriad of characters with some clever, and some not so subtle costume changes. The actors regularly break the fourth wall with a look or a wink to the audience which the latter laps up with shrieks of delight and laughter. There was a good age range in the audience this evening and it was a pleasure to watch young and old having a great night at the theatre.
The timing of comedy is all important and the jokes, both visual and spoken, flow out seamlessly. Credit to the direction from John Nicholson who also co-wrote the script along with Le Navet Bete. The set also plays a big part in the physical aspects of this production as do the many costumes so not to mention Fi Russell would be an absolute crime of historic proportions. My final mention goes to composer/sound designer Jonny Wharton who, in the face of an utterly crazy production, offers some interesting arrangements of modern songs such as ‘I want to Break Free’ at the start when the boys are in the stocks and some other modern classics along with a soundscape befitting the period.
King Arthur is hilarious, irreverent, silly, and in places, downright bonkers but it is a joy to watch these fine actors using classical techniques to make utter berks of themselves. For me, it is theatre at its very shameless. Long may Le Navet Bete continue to bring their brand of lunacy, creativity and tireless talent to the stage.