Reviewed by JoAnne Hartstone, Thursday 27th October 2016
For any fans of the 1970's BBC classic comedy by
John Cleese and
Connie Booth, you will adore seeing
Fawlty Towers Live, and feel such love and nostalgia for the show. For anyone who has managed to miss the 12 episodes (how?!) Fawlty Towers Live will be the best farce you have ever seen on stage. Cleese has adapted three of his favourite television episodes into a raucous, high energy and detailed stage show that gives a new life to the characters and the storylines.
Fawlty Towers, a Torquay hotel run by Sybil and Basil Fawlty, is experiencing an influx of rather infuriating guests. Mr Hutchinson is staying, Mrs Richards is about to arrive, and there is the ever-looming threat of hotel inspectors in town, three of them. However, Basil is given a lucky tip by a regular guest about a horse called Dragon Fly, and he decides to have a flutter, despite Sybil cutting off that avenue of pleasure in his life.
The next day, Sybil heads off to the hospital to have her ingrown toenail removed, and Basil is left in charge of the fire drill, the German guests, and putting up the moose's head.
The script takes all the best sequences from these individual episodes and mashes them together without any clarity being lost. For most of the audience, we could say the lines along with the actors and knew what was going to happen next but, just like Shakespeare, knowing how it ends does not stop you from enjoying the ride, and what a hilarious, finessed, and well-executed ride it was.
The actors gave near perfect replicas of the characters we know and love. Aimee Horne was so close to
Connie Booth's original portrayal of Polly that it was unbelievable. Her accent, nuance, timing, physicality, were all wonderfully reminiscent of the original, with enough life and spontaneity that the performance was authentic, organic, and alive. Syd Brisbane, playing Manuel, was equally as finessed, taking the caricature of the bumbling waiter and making him into a flesh and blood buffoon. Brisbane's body was morphed into the hapless man from Barcelona and we loved him even more.
Stephen Hall had big shoes to fill in the role of Basil Fawlty but, from his first moment on stage, Hall brought such frantic energy into the iconic role that we were gripped to his plight. His stature and expression were all extremely Cleese-esque, but he managed to squeeze in a few moments of original reaction and interpretation. These moments of newness were thoroughly enjoyable and heightened the show.
The entire ensemble was incredibly tight, with standout performances by Deborah Kennedy (Mrs Richards), Paul Denny (Mr Hutchinson), Blazey Best (Sybil Fawlty), and Paul Bertram (The Major).
The set and costumes, designed by Liz Ascroft, were also a perfect replication of the original look of the Hotel in the television series. The colour scheme, uniforms, furniture, all made the show look like a doll house version of the original, complete with ever-changing Fawlty Towers sign on the roof. The architecture of the hotel was morphed and condensed beautifully to give the playing areas distinction and accessibility. In truly farcical fashion, the entire two-story set was utilised for the impeccable 'entrances and exits' timing of the players. Moments of miscommunication and misdirection were choreographed with split-second execution, to hilarious effect.
The inclusion of the original musical theme by Dennis Wilson brought the whole picture together in a live production that honours and respects its origins and reminds fans just how good the show still is. It is a credit to the director, Caroline Jay Ranger and, of course, to the genius adaptation of
John Cleese.
Side note: I attended the 77th performance of this tour, on
John Cleese's 77th birthday. We were lucky enough to sing happy birthday to him in a recorded message, led by the superb all-Australian cast. It was a very sweet note to end a lovely night at the theatre. Happy Birthday John.
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