Spymonkey’s The Frogs at Royal and Derngate – review

Spymonkey returns to the stage after a four-year hiatus with a brave and typically anarchic attempt at breathing new life into a long-deceased Greek tragicomedy.

Aristophanes’s The Frogs failed to win many plaudits as a Sondheim musical 50 years ago, so you have to wonder about the sanity of Spymonkey’s artistic director and co-star, Toby Park, in dusting off its ancient cobwebs for a revival. As is pointed out in the show, the attempt is made all harder given that the award-winning theatre company has been decimated with the departure of founding member, Petra Massey, for a Las Vegas residency and the unexpected early death of another, Stephan Kreiss, in 2021. All that’s left are Park and Aitor Basauri – but have the duo (as they readily admit) “lost their mojo”? Is there a future for the company or is their best work already a distant memory?

With the help of new recruit Jacoba Williams, Park and Basauri plunge into a new project for a co-production, which opened last night at Northampton’s Royal and Derngate. As it turns out, The Frogs is a largely apt choice of play: laden with clever metaphysical complexities to reveal not only a raw and realistic look at a depleted theatre company’s struggle for survival, but also an endearing and heartfelt tribute to one of its much-loved members.

For those not up to speed on 3,000-year-old texts, The Frogs follows the quixotic adventures of demi-God Dionysus, and his manservant Xanthias, as the pair set off on a road trip to rescue Euripides from Hades in the hope that the playwright’s art will breathe new life into theatre, culture and civilisation.

Park and Basauri throw themselves into the plot but soon realise that, in fact, they are looking for their dear friend Kreiss – in an impossible quest to reunite the old team. Bad taste? I’m sure if Kreiss was still alive, he would have applauded the storyline.

However, it soon becomes evident that despite trippy scenes, tap-dancing frogs (take a bow the theatre’s community cast) and the introduction of Williams, not to mention the boundless energy of Basauri, that the only way is forward. Kreiss is gone and he’s not coming back.

Metatheatrics and metaphysics aside, The Frogs, written by Carl Grose in collaboration with Spymonkey, sadly runs out of steam. The sketchy road to enlightenment needs a bigger cast with fresh comedic skills to flesh out the story. Instead, it exhibits self-indulgence and, at times, sluggish storytelling. The narrative struggles to keep its head above water in the sea between scenes that are used to pad out the production to two hours (including an interval). There are occasional flashes of brilliance but, generally, the show lacks innovation and originality.

Spymonkey created a sensation when they first barnstormed the stage more than 25 years ago and, while fans won’t be disappointed, I found it a bit forced and desperate. I hope the troupe rally and that new blood will revitalise its fortunes.