Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Dik Od Triaanenen Fol
I was dragged kicking and screaming to see “Dik Od Triaanenen Fol” (the new musical by Bin Faaarkrekkion) by Bunny. Knowing me, she had gotten the tickets and simply said “We're going.”
So we went.
The musical promised to be ten hours of “the story, in music and song, of Finland's transformation from a predominantly rural agricultural base to one of the most sophisticated industrial and entrepreneurial economies in the world,” with the “foot-stomping East Finland Moose Ballet—45 mangificent creatures in high-stepping harmony.”
Words can't describe how much I was looking forward to this.
We took our seats in the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in the nosebleed section of the theater and patiently awaited the start of the Lapp Cheese Council Production of “Dik Od Triaanenen Fol.”
![[Don't let this picture fool you—that's about a thousand foot drop there]](/2008/03/11/stage.jpg "Don't let this picture fool you—that's about a thousand foot drop there")
Imagine my relief surprise when after the first musical
number, “Fisch Schlapping Song,” a historian came out to inform the
performers that the play was about the English, not the
Finnish, and we found ourselves watching Monty Python's Spamalot, a
musical version of their film, Mønti Pythøn ik
den Høli Gräilen (vulgarly known as “Monty
Python and the Holy Grail”).
I will say this—I was generally surprised by how good this was, and I'm not a fan of musicals. The plot (if you can call it one) diverged quite a bit from the movie (as if there was much of a plot there) but it still had The Black Knight (whose arms and legs were cut off—impressive for a stage show), The Knights Who say “Ni!”(but alas, no Roger the Shrubber), Dennis, Prince Herbert, Tim and Enchanter and The Killer Rabbit (who manages to take the head off one of the knights—again, very impressive for a stage show). Sadly, no Castle Anthrax, Bridge of Death, nor do the Knights find the Holy Grail in a Catholic Church [1]. And there's a love story.
Actually, two love stories (but I'll refrain from spoiling it).
But aside from all that, it's pretty much not at all like the film.
And amazingly enough, it's fantastic—although, that might be because I was spared watching the East Finland Moose Ballet for ten hours.
- For God was a Protestant, you see, and couldn't enter a Catholic Church … [2]
- You see, the original screen play for Mønti Pythøn ik den Høli Gräilen had King Arthur finding the Holy Grail in a Catholic Church [3]—obviously, the script changed somewhat by the time they got to filming it.
- And no, I'm not going to explain the whole Catholic vs. Protestant thing—that's what Clusty is for …
