As the Monty Python troupe might put it, “something completely different” is happening this season at the Ogunquit Playhouse.

After a year of canceled main-stage productions because of the pandemic, the venerable summer theater has adjusted, with a little help from some generous friends, to the new – at least temporary – normal by constructing an outdoor pavilion alongside the iconic theater building in which so many stars have appeared over the years.

With its metal frame, fabric covering and dirt floor, the new 25,000-square-foot Leary Pavilion resembles a mid-size college field house or perhaps a county fair exhibition space. The playhouse’s choice for the season-opening show seemed just about perfect for this unusual setting, and a general, let’s-have-some-fun atmosphere quickly took hold of the socially distanced opening night audience as they broke up into two-person pods, mostly unmasked while seated in their folding chairs.

“Monty Python’s Spamalot” is a 2005 musical based on the 1975 movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”  Written by original Python member Eric Idle with John Du Prez – and newly adapted, reportedly by Idle and this production’s director BT McNicholl, for a world still awakening from a pandemic – the show at Ogunquit brings all of Python’s surreal zaniness to a wide stage. It’s 100 or so minutes of comedy that takes quite a few irreverent and silly shots at the theater business itself as well as the medieval quest for the Holy Grail.

Absurd situations and hilarious misunderstandings rule as King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table gallop afoot(!) through an England ravaged by plague and haunted by a variety of ogres and killer wildlife, not to mention the highly insulting French. Songs with reflexive lyrics sung in styles from Celtic folk to disco hot and Broadway bombast break out as the daft adventure proceeds.

Charles Shaughnessy, remembered for his TV roles on “The Nanny” and “Days of our Lives,” as well as for a previous stint in this role at Ogunquit, is a solid, if frequently befuddled, King Arthur. He fronts several musical numbers, taking just enough off his character’s regal tone to impart a bit of, albeit tongue in cheek, personality (“I’m All Alone”).

Mariand Torres, as his love interest, The Lady of the Lake, is a force to be reckoned with, belting out big showbiz tunes (“Find Your Grail,” “The Diva’s Lament”) that reverberate in all corners of the theater tent.

Jen Cody is a scene stealer as the king’s steady companion Patsy. Her moment in the spotlight on “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life” artfully mixes comedy with song. Her reactions to the king’s obliviousness are classic.

Josh Grisetti takes command of the stage as the knights, out of the blue, are tasked with creating a Broadway show. His “You Won’t Succeed On Broadway” is a major highlight, both vocally and in the dance interludes (choreography by Jennifer Rias) that, as in most of the show, mix and match styles with abandon. Nic Rouleau also camps it up quite nicely as the irrepressible Prince Herbert.

The offstage band, directed by Fred Lassen, pumps things up as do the onstage ensemble members, strutting and posing in colorful costumes coordinated by Jill E Tarr. Some cartoonish scenery and props add to the sense that this show, held together by a persistently wacky wit, is just what the doctor ordered for this unusual moment in Ogunquit Playhouse history.

Steve Feeney is a freelance writer who lives in Portland.