The Ministry of Silly Walks was open for business at the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion to officially celebrate the unofficial International Monty Python Day, May 10.聽
To commemorate the popular British comedy group, the Jasper Theatre Arts Collective and Habitat for the Arts completely transformed the legion to put on a show like no other鈥攁cting out crowd-pleasing skits while projecting classic Monty Python footage on one of the building's walls.
This was the Jasper Theatre Arts Collective鈥檚 first performance since 2013 and by all accounts it was huge hit.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 have asked for a better turn-out,鈥� said Julie-Anne Weaver, the show's director.
鈥淭he challenge with acting out Monty Python is that so many people know the skits so well, so we knew there would be a high expectation from the audience,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e tried to the best of our abilities to remain authentic to the pieces, but at the same time we wanted to be a bit silly with it.鈥�
The elaborate costumed cast took turns reenacting the likes of The Tale of Sir Galahad, The Pet Shop, Fish License and The Argument Clinic鈥� all classics in the Pythons' realm. As each scene came to a close, the audience erupted in howls and shrieks of laughter.
On top of all the gut-busting entertainment, the cast also got the audience involved by serving up some Monty Python trivia, sing-alongs and even a silly walks competition鈥攂ased off the Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch.
鈥淏asically the scene has a guy doing a silly walk and he wants to apply for a government grant for his silly walk, but John Cleese鈥檚 character doesn鈥檛 think the walk is silly enough to warrant a grant,鈥� Weaver said. 鈥淪o, we thought we鈥檇 do a competition based on that to see who had the silliest walk.鈥�
Weaver added that she was impressed by the amount of people who participated鈥攕howing off their best wiggles, jiggles, shakes and flails.
For each trivia winner and top three silly walkers, the cast handed out some dazzling prizes, which included cans of Spam, and a few coconuts.
The two organizations began organizing this year's show back in the winter. Once they held their open auditions, Weaver said she was surprised by the amount of new faces that showed up.
鈥淭he age range of the people who participated in this was quite diverse. We had our usual suspects, but we also had a lot who have never acted before,鈥� Weaver said. 鈥淲e also had people who were pretty unfamiliar with Monty Python while others already knew the lines because they were so familiar.鈥�
After their long break from the stage, the Jasper Theatre Arts Collective is hoping to put on more shows throughout the year. The group is also trying to start up a summer improvisation workshop.
鈥淭here are lots of people that believe Jasper is really lacking a theatrical component,鈥� Weaver said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really hoping to just go off the momentum of this last show and get people engaged.
鈥淭he show demonstrated that people are willing to come out to shows. We just have to find things that appeal to our community and I think that鈥檚 something we鈥檙e constantly trying to do.鈥�
The Jasper Theatre Arts Collective meets every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion. The meetings are open to everyone.
鈥淲e鈥檇 really love to see more people get involved and share their theatrical ideas,鈥� Weaver said.
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
