Spymonkey's Moby Dick (From Daily Echo)

Spymonkey's Moby Dick

9:23am Thursday 1st October 2009 in

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YOU don’t have to be obsessed to go in search of a killer white whale – but this production by the zany Spymonkey Theatre group proves that it helps if you are more than a tad bonkers.

This was never going to be a faithful representation of the famous novel where peg leg Ahab devotes his life to tracking down the pale leviathan who bit off his limb.

For one thing the original written by American author Herman Melville did not permit women on board the Pequod as it sailed the southern oceans.

And indeed this led to some dissent among the crew/cast one of which in the form of madcap Petra Massey took some umbrage at being written out once the ship had sailed on its quest.

Needless to say, writing Petra back into the tale was child’s play for a performance that rode rocky seas when it came to authenticity.

Fellow cast members Aitour Basauri – brilliant despite wearing his beard as a wig, Stephan Kreissunbelievable in the harpoon juggling department and Toby Park – resplendently mad as Ahab himself, ensured the audience of land lovers were rocking in their seats with mirth when they were not waving their arms to create the inevitable stormy seas.

Naturally, Moby himself was always likely to steal the scene. But what can you say about a whale that wears white Lycra?

As with all good comedy this production slipped seamlessly at times into original classic text from the novel, Ahab’s haunted, tortured soul even more stark set against such ridiculous goings on.

Finally the whale wins, the choir sings and the audience leaves only slightly damp from all the spitting.

Thar she blows!

■ Show runs until Saturday.

Box office 023 8067 1771