British Youth Music Theatre – The Power of Camelot

The Power of Camelot, performed by the British Youth Music Theatre, was reviewed at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

In a lively start to BYMT’s production of the new musical The Power of Camelot, a fresh take on the iconic legend of King Arthur, a cast of 36 young performers brings an immediate energy to this West Country stage with the opening number, ‘We Need a Hero.’ The vocals are strong, the pace is quick, and the scene is quickly set for a rollicking tale of magic and monsters, heroes and villains.

A weary King Arthur, accompanied by his ‘not so faithful’ magician Merlin, must choose a new leader so that Camelot can rise again. A decision is made, the baton is passed, but of course it does not take long for the dark forces to emerge, the treachery to begin, and the jewels of Excalibur to go missing.

Fast forward to 2024 and we meet the achingly ‘cool’ Morgan and her posse of hangers on. Morgan’s not only an influencer with a penchant for Insta Live, she is also a descendent of Camelot’s usurped ruler and on a mission to redeem her family name. With a captivating stage presence, she quickly commands attention from her crazy crew of sycophants as well as from the audience, with the former also showing a notable talent for comic timing.

Morgan manages to win back the first jewel too easily, in my view, but the monster with the illuminated eyes is a triumph, so simple and yet so incredibly effective. In hot pursuit of our modern-day hero are the Knights of the Round Table – a motley crew of four, with sensitive soul, Knight Eli, particularly unsuited to any form of chasing. It is surprisingly hard to do useless well, but each Knight manages it brilliantly.

Reaching Ireland on the next leg of her quest, Morgan meets the wacky but wonderful Tierney who saves her from the fairies and retrieves another lost jewel. Tierney is kooky with a capital ‘K’, with a physicality that is both exhausting and incredible to watch. She wants to join the adventure and while Morgan’s not wild about the idea the two eventually move on to Scotland. Here we’re introduced to the quick-witted café owner Skye with her large collection of hysterical tourist put-downs. She negotiates with her old friends the Selkies to win the next jewel and then joins Morgan and Tierney as they head to Glastonbury Abbey.

A diversion to Glastonbury Festival to lose the hapless Knights provides a perfect opportunity for some cracking choreography (Krista Vuori),and a mad mix of music styles. If any of the audience was flagging, this shot of music and mayhem will certainly have woken them up. The talented band members led by musical director Ben McQuigg,really gets to show off their credentials in this scene, effortlessly and impressively manoeuvring between the quick changes of genre.

And then with a simple drop of curtains, we’re transported to the Abbey crypt for a very entertaining scene with a selection of feminist ghosts, including Guinevere. When Knight Eli appears, feminism goes out the window as they all flirt wildly, vying for his attention and duly handing over the last jewel. From here, we are soon at the finale where good triumphs evil, teamwork banishes individual power and Knight Eli becomes a therapist.

This is a highly successful new musical with fine performances from all the young cast, a great script and lyrics from writer Cerys Jones, top tunes from composer Ruth Chan, and impeccable direction from Rhiann Jeffrey (design by Lu Herbert). It just misses out on five stars because the opener could have been tighter and, while the scene with the ghosts in Glastonbury Abbey is powerful with wonderful comedic moments, the singing is not crisp enough for the narrative to be clear. It’s nearly there though, as the rousing applause and standing ovation made obvious on the last night of the Exeter show.

The Power of Camelot was produced as one of seven brand new British musicals as part of BYMT’s 20th anniversary season.

Nicola Curtis