Spamalot

Stretching a point here as I don't often get to the theatre these days. I dare say you are all aware of the source material being Monty Python and the Holy Grail, adapted for stage and song by Eric Idle etc.
Well this was an enthusiastic amateur production at Newcastle's prestigious Theatre Royal, on for a week, and I was visiting the Thursday matinee. This may account for the afternoon's events. 
I'd received a ticket for the Stalls (a first) and was struck by my luck, great view and surely an opportunity for great fun! Not feeling at my best (nip & tuck as to whether I made the show) I knew that if the humour really kicked off I would start coughing and probably inflict my ailment to those sitting close by. About 10 mins in and sure enough, funny bone well and truly tickled, I burst into a small coughing fit and knew that, come the Interval, I would have to seek another seat. After adjourning to the bar in the interval, I returned to use up one of the many available seats further back and that was disappointing in itself as up till now things had been a mite quiet.
(What about the bloody performance then Gordon? Ed.)

All the expected highlights were there, Knights of Nee, the French soldiers on the battlements, the Black Knight with a smattering of cocoanuts & shrubbery! All of it seemed to go either above the heads of an uninteractive audience or they just weren't enjoying it. Even the chiselling in of "Always look on the bright side of life" from Life of Brian didn't spark the watching customers into life. Another late attempt at audience participation indicated the Grail was under a seat in the auditorium and a poor unsuspecting victim, yes victim, struggled under Dr Footlights with no help from those watching. You got the feeling that perhaps it was raining outside and they'd all come in to get dry or their own funny bone had done an Andy Murray and become painful. Shame because the kids gave it a grand go, the lighting was fine, the effects worked and after all we were into day four, I think, of the run. Maybe it's just a matinee thing.
I'd been intrigued to see how a musical was created from the movie, in the end I just felt sorry for the cast who all deserved better. Cast 8, Audience 2 - after extra time.