The Hayes Theatre is an intimate little venue that has provided the scene for some of Sydney’s most wonderfully inventive musical theatre productions, with directors and designers bringing fresh life to shows, some of which struggled in bigger venues. But rarely has the Hayes felt as intimate as it does in Richard Carroll’s exuberant production of Spamalot.

Cramer Cain as King Arthur, and the company of Spamalot. Photograph © John McRae

When Carroll directed his gloriously subversive, meta-theatrical, award-winning production of Calamity Jane, he put saloon tables on stage where patrons sat as the production unfurled around them. For Spamalot, Carroll and his designer Emma Vine have put banks of traverse seating on either side of the stage, reducing it to a tiny little performance space with the audience right on top of the action. The centre aisle through the auditorium is also very much in play.

It’s a clever move, with the audience easily coaxed into standing up, clapping and singing along at times. But despite the outsized commitment of the talented cast, there’s no getting around the fact that Spamalot is a lightweight show with some dated humour and a number of dull...