In Keene Central School’s production of “Spamalot,” the knights shown here are Vann Morrelli (Sir Lancelot), Soren Jacobson (Sir Robin), Keenan Warner (Sir Galahad) and Peyton Baillargeon (Sir Bedevere). (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

Last December, Keene Central School seniors Ella Robjent and Grace Stephens decided to revamp the dormant KCS Drama Club as their senior project. Their first effort was to take on a modern revision of “Eurydice,” the ancient Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice penned in 2001 by Sara Ruhl.

With its sparse sets and limited cast, a Greek tragedy may have seemed an odd choice to relaunch high school plays, but Robjent, Stephens and young actors who took on the challenging roles delivered a quality production that received rave reviews.

Their second play, Monty Python’s “Spamalot,” held on March 22 and 23, could not have been more different. “Spamalot” is a spirited and hilarious take on Camelot, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table’s effort to find the holy grail. Plus, the musical required a far larger cast, with several actors playing more than one role. Also, “Spamalot” featured a wider range of ages in the cast. Once again, Robjent directed the play, Stephens choreographed and teacher Brad Hurlburt was their mentor and resident gofer. Both girls acted in the play.

Grammy winner Eric Idle of the English comedy ensemble Monty Python wrote the book and lyrics and co-wrote the music for “Spamalot” with fellow Grammy winner John Du Prez, who also composed the music for the film “A Fish Called Wanda” and three “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movies. “Spamalot” won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical on Broadway, and it is often hailed as a ripped-off version of the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” which Idle co-authored with Graham Chapman and John Cleese.

The play features everything you’d want: knights on a quest, the Lady of the Lake, the sword Excalibur, castles, flying cows and a killer rabbit. It’s a perfect mix for students to take on, which the Keene Central students did with gusto to loud and long applause from the enraptured audience.

The producers of the Keene Central School’s production of “Spamalot” are shown here: teacher/mentor Brad Hurlburt and seniors Ella Robjent (director) and Grace Stephens (choreographer). (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

“The acting tonight was fantastic,” said Brian LaVallee, who has graced the Recovery Lounge stage many times. “My cheeks are aching from laughing so much. It was wonderful. My takeaway was always to look on the bright side of life.”

While some of the young thespians, such as Brian’s daughter Avry (Lady of the Lake), had performed before, such as last fall in “Eurydice,” for Peyton Baillargeon, who played Sir Bedevere, “Spamalot” was his first time on stage. A challenge for all the performers is that they had about a month to learn their parts and get ready to act and sing on stage while meeting all their classroom assignments and participating in sports and other school activities.

“I thought it went great, much better than I expected,” said Baillargeon. “We had our expectations and were working hard the closer it got to the performance, and we made it happen. We had a very little time. Rehearsals started smoothly at the beginning, and then we had to crunch a bit to get ready. While this was my first play, those in the previous play helped us pull it together, and we made it happen.”

Baillargeon said he’s very open to participating in another play next year.

“We didn’t have a lot of planning time,” said Asa Sprague, who played King Arthur. “But everybody attended the rehearsals after school and put in the extra hours. It was a fun experience. Last fall, the play was just with seniors. This play drew from the full high school. We had some middle schoolers, and the Killer Rabbit was an elementary student. It was a full school experience.”

In Keene Central School’s production of “Spamalot,” shown here are Cloe Silverstein (laker girl), Vann Morrelli (Sir Not), Ella Whitney (laker girl), Grace Stephens (Lady of the Lounge) and Liana Shambo (Frenchi). (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

Along with King Arthur, his squire Patsy was on stage the most, which included the first night her getting hit with a bucket of water by a very zealous guard, performed by Cooper Gagnon. Another task was making the sound of a galloping horse as she followed the king about in the thankless role of assisting him in every way possible.

“For me, the biggest difference with ‘Eurydice’ is this was a musical, which I have never done before,” said Pia Morrelli. “So I had to sing way more than I was used to, but I loved it. It’s way more fun to do a lighthearted play. I liked doing ‘Eurydice,’ but I liked doing ‘Spamalot’ even more. I liked the range of ages. Thaddeus was great as a rabbit. Pulling it off in a month was a little difficult, but we all put in the time, and I think it came out great in the end.”

“‘Spamalot’ was great,” said Sam Fisk. “The kids’ presentation reflected the spirit of this school and what they can do here. I have followed my grandson since he was born, and now he’s about to graduate and go to college. He thrived here, and this play in which he performed reflects all the wonderful things about the school. I loved it. What they do in a school of this size is so precious.”

“While I knew what was coming because we had two kids in the show, I laughed through the entire show,” said Josh Whitney.

Robjent and Stephens were thrilled by the shows, first because two very different productions showcased the range of what the students could take on, and the community enjoys, and because they have two students lined up to keep in Keene Central School Drama Club going and teacher Brad Hulbert on the hook for another year, if not two or more.

“I’m so proud of this show, this cast, and what came together,” said Ella, who has now directed two very different plays. “Our cast was much smaller in the fall so everyone could dive deeper into their characters and roles. The story of this play is fairly well known, so the characters are already built. So, we talked about how to make the character your own. With a larger cast, we had to spend more time figuring out scheduling, working around sports and dance and singing rehearsals.”

“A challenge was we had a lot of fresh people who had never done theater before,” said Grace. “So, we had to spend a lot of time talking to find out if they would be comfortable in the part we assigned. We know you’ve never been on stage before. How would you feel about taking a lead role?”

“I’m very proud of what Ella and Grace put together,” said Hurlburt. “It’s my 26th year of teaching, and I never had a pair of students so talented, driven and motivated with the vision and skillset they have. I just tried to support them so they could put on the shows they wanted to do and give them as much free reign as possible.”

Junior Senna Pepe and sophomore Cloe Silverstein, who played Historians and Lake Girls, plan to carry the Drama Club forward, and Hurlburt is engaged.

(Naj Wikoff lives in Keene Valley. He has been covering events for the Lake Placid News for more than 15 years.)