The production, which recently celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, first played in Edinburgh in 2008 to rave reviews and sell-out performances.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience, the critically acclaimed international immersive phenomenon, returns to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for a 13th year this August, taking up residence in a brand new venue at the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton. The production, which recently celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, first played in Edinburgh in 2008 to rave reviews and sell-out performances.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience is a highly interactive experience, where audiences enjoy a 3-course meal and 5-star comedy. A loving tribute to the BBC's classic TV series, the show has been seen by over a million people worldwide since it was born in Australia in 1997 and is London's longest running immersive show.
When the audience become diners in the 'Faulty Towers' restaurant, pretty much anything can happen - because 70% of the show is improvised. The fun starts as guests wait to be seated. It then hurtles along in a 2-hour tour de force of gags and shambolic service as Basil, Sybil and Manuel serve a '70s-style 3-course meal together with a good dollop of mayhem. Expect the unexpected!
The company of actors at the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton features David Tremaine and Rebecca Norris returning as 'Basil' and 'Sybil', roles they played in 2018 to critical acclaim. Simon Grujich and Andrew Gruen will share the role of 'Manuel', making their Edinburgh Fringe Festival debuts.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience will play six days a week from Wednesday through to Monday, with additional matinees on Saturday and Sunday.
Born in Australia in April 1997, devised by Alison Pollard-Mansergh, Andrew Foreman and others, the show has been touring the UK and internationally since 2008, having appeared in 41 countries to date, and employing 56 actors per season. The show has toured to over 1000 venues, with approximately 400 shows per year on average in the UK alone. 2022 has already seen runs at Sydney Opera House, Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festival, with tours in Ireland, Scandinavia, and Australia yet to come.
In October 2009, Faulty Towers The Dining Experience played its first performance in London: a sold-out weekend in Covent Garden. The next two years saw sold out summer seasons of six weeks. Then, in 2012, the show opened its first London West End residency at Charing Cross Hotel (now Amba Hotel Charing Cross).
Reflecting on the show's success, Artistic Director Alison Pollard-Mansergh - the show's original 'Sybil' says: "It's hard to believe that what started as a 6-month venture has now reached all these milestones. A Twenty-fifth Birthday, Ten Years in London and now a Thirteenth visit to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. What an absolute joy; working with incredibly talented performers to pay homage to one of the greatest TV comedies of all time and giving people an opportunity to escape and laugh."
Since opening, the cast have performed to notable guests including Fawlty Towers' very own Andrew Sachs, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, and England footballer Joe Cole, as well as taking a pop-up version of their restaurant on the London Underground and to a sold-out Royal Albert Hall.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience is a loving tribute to Fawlty Towers, the BBC TV series written by John Cleese and Connie Booth. Their TV scripts are not used in Faulty Towers The Dining Experience. Faulty Towers The Dining Experience uses its own original scripts and format.
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