Fawlty Towers the Play – a gorgeously truthful homage to celebrate fifty years of comedy genius.
The 1970’s, British comedy farce Fawlty Towers was a staple Saturday night VHS tape we would watch when I was growing up.
Only twelve episodes were ever made but that never stopped us from watching them every weekend.
Written by Monty Python’s John Cleese (along with then wife Connie Booth who also starred in the show), the comedy programme was based around a real experience John had encountered at a hotel in Torquay, Devon, when filming Monty Python. The manager of the hotel was so awful and unprofessional that John Cleese thought it would make for good television.
Now, fifty years later, John Cleese has adapted Fawlty Towers into a West End Play, currently playing at London’s Apollo Theatre.
Based on three of the original TV episodes – ‘The Hotel Inspector’, ‘The Germans’ and ‘Communication Problems’, the play centres around some gossip that Sybil has heard on the telephone, that there are three hotel inspectors in town and Basil is determined to uncover if anyone checking in to Fawlty Towers could be one of them.
Throw in some german tourists, a deaf and dotty guest and a wife who leaves her husband in charge for one night whilst she has an ingrowing toe nail removed and you’re all set for two hours of pure fun.
Danny Bayne (who previously understudied the role) takes on the character of Basil with comedic determination. Basil Fawlty is pretty much constantly having a mental breakdown and Danny manages to encapsulate this perfectly, balancing the awful tempered character with someone you can still feel sorry for.
Hemi Yeroham returns to the role of Manuel, rightly receiving the most laughs as the hopeless waiter from Barcelona who tries so hard but is constantly on the receiving end of Basil’s frustration.
Joanne Clifton made the role of Polly her own, not trying to mimic Connie Booth’s awful english accent from the TV show.
Comedy legend Helen Lederer (one of the first female stand up comedians to perform on Saturday Night Live but most widely known for playing Catriona – one of Patsy’s assistants in Absolutely Fabulous) bring all of her quirky humour to the role of Mrs Richards, the woman who struggles to hear what anyone is saying, despite having a hearing aid which she doesn’t like to turn on because it wears the battery out.
TV and Theatre veteran Paul Nicholas (who starred in the original casts of Hair, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar and alongside Elaine Paige (Sandy) as Danny in the original cast of Grease) returns to play Major – the retired, slightly senile soldier, who lives in the hotel and is one of the few people Basil seems to like (as he has had the respect in life he so badly craves). This well loved character is well looked after by Paul who gives the performance the role deserves.
Mia Austen takes on the role of Sybil, making the part her own. She seems more present than in the previous production, cropping up when she isn’t wanted, checking everyone is behaving themselves.
I’m not sure what someone who has never seen the TV show would make of this piece of theatre. It is dated and some of the content hasn’t aged well but for fans of the show, this is a gorgeously truthful homage to celebrate fifty years of comedy genius.
★★★★
Reviewed by West End Wilma
