FAWLTY TOWERS – THE PLAY | UK TOUR @ GLASGOW KINGS
★★★
“Fawlty Towers’ greatest hits, gloriously run together in ‘the day of the life of a Torquay hotelier’…”
It’s now more than 50 years since Fawlty Towers, written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, first aired on TV. That episode was entitled A Touch of Class, prescient for a series that would become recognised as a classic among sitcoms.
Consequently, Fawlty Towers The Play comes with high expectations. Adapted for the stage by Cleese himself, it’s a ‘bingo card’ of the series’ best bits with all its landmark moments accounted for; from the fire drill and hotel inspector’s visit to Mrs Richards with her temperamental hearing aid and the arrival of a party of German guests, they’re all there, and more. Indeed, it’s the first throw away mention of the Germans that sends an audible ripple of nervous expectation through the audience.
Played out on Liz Ascroft’s forensically evocative two level stage set, an aesthetically pleasing and clever design that immediately resurrects memories of the original studio sets, as well as the hotel’s instantly recognisable monochrome exterior and iconic, frequently misspelled, sign.
Charged with the almost impossible task of matching Cleese’s quintessential performance as infamous Torquay hotelier, Basil Fawlty, Danny Bayne is not helped by a pre-show announcement voiced by Cleese himself, which instantly rekindles memories of the incomparable creation so loved by millions. Bayne’s take on Basil perfectly captures the required comic physicality of the originator of the role, but lacks his danger. If through his vocal performance he makes the role his own, the frenetic urgency associated with the role takes time to ramp up, replaced instead by the brooding superciliousness of a man forever frustrated and on the edge.
Opposite him, Mia Austen underplays his long-suffering spouse, Sybil, and proves the perfect foil to deflate Basil’s pomposity. Elsewhere, Jemma Churchill is commanding as a wonderfully domineering Mrs Richards, while Adam Elliott excels as Mr Walt, channeling just enough of Bernard Cribbins to be immediately recognisable as the spoon salesman mistaken for a hotel inspector.
Neil Stewart, taking an understudy turn as The Major for an absent Paul Nicholas, is suitably bonkers, while Strictly Come Dancing’s Joanne Clifton impresses as the ever loyal Polly.
On the whole, Caroline Jay Ranger directs with great conviction but there are occasions when timing and pacing falters causing gags to fail to land with the expected impact. Similarly, set pieces that rely on the action descending into chaos are at times muddied with too much happening to maintain their focus.
Cleese’s adaptation ensures familiar word plays and scenarios are scattered throughout the one hour 40 minute script but it’s Hemi Yeroham’s impeccable delivery of Manuel’s famous line, ‘I know nothing…’, that garners the first spontaneous round of applause of the evening. The second is Bayne’s fantastically executed ‘Ministry of Silly Walks’ moment.
If some of the humour is born of generations raised in the shadow of WWII and therefore of its time, potentially problematic elements of the source material are deftly cut or tempered without losing their ability to induce laughter.
A slow burn initially, Fawlty Towers The Play builds towards a calamitous finale featuring many of the series’ tropes, themes and chaotic comedy that, even five decades on, still deliver unbridled laughter, all wrapped in the warm embrace of familiarity and nostalgia.
Run ends 17 January Tickets HERE | Full tour dates and venues HERE
