The Stage

No Naughty Bits

Published Wednesday 14 September 2011 at 12:39 by Jeremy Austin

Author Steve Thompson has achieved the impossible - making a courtroom drama about intellectual copyright amusing.

Admittedly his source material had something going for it - the true story of two of the Monty Python team, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, suing the US broadcaster ABC for editing their material. But Thompson has a natural, fluid writing style that lets humour bloom almost organically from conversation - as it does in reality - and in doing so turns a legal battle into a laugh out loud comedy.

Of course at its heart is a serious issue - the right of the artist to protect the integrity of their work and their freedom to say whatever they please. Sadly, more than 30 years on from the events recalled here, television and the newspapers still try to stifle and censor comedy. This play should be a lesson to all writers and performers to fight for their right to never have their work compromised.

Edward Hall and designer Francis O’Connor have created a spit and Sellotape world that somehow references Gilliam’s Python animations and that also somehow manages to reinforce the absurdity faced by the Pythons in having to describe why certain elements of their sketches are funny.

Aided by Thompson’s clear characterisation, Harry Hadden-Paton and Sam Alexander as Palin and Gilliam respectively neatly inhabit their roles. Palin’s placid intelligence and Gilliam’s rock star persona create a real dynamic that drives the action.

But it is Matthew Marsh as the wisecracking Judge Lasker who steals the show. His perfect comedy timing enlivens Thompson’s witty script and breezes through the courtroom scenes.

Monty Python is still a goldmine, even the stories behind the shows. No Naughty Bits has a life on tour and in the US. It will not be an ex-production for a long while yet.

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