King Arthur and his knights to storm the Arden

Kids love a good hero. Come to think of it, so do grownups. And no one tall tale is more intriguing, more mystical than the Arthurian legends.

Vancouver-based Axis Theatre Company presents King Arthur’s Kitchen, coming to St. Albert’s Arden Theatre this Sunday. The production is quite unlike anything the community has seen before.

Set in Camelot’s castle, specifically around the basement kitchen’s stone hearth, a cook, a kitchen maid and a scullion wield a baguette, knife and salad bowl, and presto — Arthur’s story comes to life.

Three years ago, Axis Theatre commissioned King Arthur’s Kitchen from Lesley Mildner, a freelance playwright who also happened to be a close personal friend of artistic director Wayne Specht.

“In our research we discovered the Scots, the Welsh, the Irish and the Brits all lay claim to Arthur. He was probably a fictional character, an amalgam representing great leadership,” Specht says.

After Mildner created the original blueprint, Specht tweaked the show’s rhythm. What audiences saw was a 53-minute project with seven songs that ranged from doo-wop to love ballads. “And it all works.”

In Mildner’s vision, King Arthur is celebrating his birthday with the Knights of the Round Table. The kitchen is a whirlwind of activity as the kitchen staff dash about cooking the grand banquet.

Nerves are tense and, to lighten the mood, the cook regales his assistants with songs and daring tales of sword fights and magical winds. And all the medieval characters, including Merlin the magician, Arthur’s twin sister Morgana and Queen Guinevere, have a moment in the spotlight.

Mildner uses a technique of parallel storytelling to create the colourful chapters of Arthur’s life. “One of the highlights is when the cook tells the story of Arthur trying to pull a sword out of stone. In the kitchen, Roderick, the clumsy assistant breaks the birthday cake and while he’s trying to fix it, he drops the knife in the cake and can’t get it out.”

Now on a two-month tour from Vancouver to Prince Edward Island, the cast includes Gordon Roberts (cook), Astrid Barnes (kitchen maid) and Christopher Cook (Roderick).

“It’s a fascinating story of a king and a hero and we are all curious of the world of magic. And there’s a certain amount of romance, adventure and comedy. It has it all and I’m very proud of it.”