GO: THEATRE: A PYTHON'S TALE GETS THE FULL MONTY.

Byline: Marion McMullen

FACED with the Ministry of Silly Walks, the Spanish Inquisition and cross-dressing lumberjacks where do you start writing a show about Monty Python comedy star Graham Chapman?

"Well it's a little surreal and pythonesque which is only fitting because Graham Chapman was the most Pythonesque of all the Pythons," points out Adrian Poynton.

He has been delving into the life of the Monty Python favourite in award-winning show A Very Naughty Boy - The Life of Graham Chapman.

It has led to him searching through old film archives, talking to friends of Graham and speaking to cameramen and other people he worked with over the years. "It's helped fill in the blanks," says Adrian. "He was one of the loonies of Monty Python. He was an alcoholic and a homosexual who came out in a big way at a time when people didn't do that."

The production won a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival and Adrian is currently taking the show on tour with former Warwick University student Tom Price, one of the founding members of comedy sketch group Ubersausage.

Tom plays John Cleese in the two-man show and Adrian says: "He was the first person who came along to the audition and didn't try to do an impression of Cleese."

Adrian, who has been the face of Stimorol Air Rush and Hot Rush chewing gum on European TV, says he watched the antics of Monty Python when he was growing up in Litchfield. "I was always a big Monty Python fan, but never a Monty Python junkie," he says. "I was just a big fan of the comedy of that era."

In fact, Adrian uncovered so many stories about Graham from his wild nights with The Who's drummer Keith Moon to his work on Monty Python that it was hard to leave out personal favourites.

"There was one tale of Graham and Keith being in a penthouse and running out of booze in the mini-bar. They ended up crawling out on the ledge outside the building and raiding neighbouring apartments looking for drink. Graham used to be a member of the Dangerous Sports Club. They used to go skiing down mountains on tea trays and things like that."

Adrian knew he was taking a risk writing about such a popular comedy character and says there were a few jitters before opening night. "I thought people are going to really like it or we were going to commit creative suicide."

Luckily, the show has proved so popular that Adrian is now developing it for television and Graham's old writing crony, Barry Cryer, and his long-term partner, David Sherlock, have both given their seal of approval.

"I was more nervous about talking to David than John Cleese or any of the Pythons," confesses Adrian. "It took me 25 minutes to make the call. He approved the script and said he really liked what I had done with it. He said he thought it was written in a way that Graham would have wanted it written."

A Very Naughty Boy - The Life of Graham Chapman can be seen at Warwick Arts Centre on March 13. Box office 024 7652 4524.

CAPTION(S):

COMEDY TRIBUTE: Adrian Poynton as Graham Chapman in A Very Naughty Boy - The Life of Graham Chapamn and (below) Graham Chapman (with pipe) with his Monty Python cohorts