Image credit: Gareth Griffiths
★★★★
In December 1975, BBC 2 aired a sitcom called Faulty Towers about a dysfunctional Torquay hotel run by its rude owner, his bossy wife, a put-upon chambermaid and a hapless Spanish waiter; it would come to be regarded as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time in terms of its casting, tight plotting and ruthless one-liners. Almost 50 years later, original star and writer John Cleese revitalised the series as a West End production, adapting three episodes to be performed on stage at The Apollo Theatre in London.
The episodes in question are three of Cleese’s personal favourites; Hotel Inspectors, The Germans, and Communication Problems, leading to a hilariously chaotic finale which combines the endings of all three, with a nod to an iconic fourth episode, Basil the Rat. The play effectively runs over the course of two nights at Fawlty Towers, with the events of each episode overlapping, but never compromising the comedic rhythm. Cleese has cleverly woven the episodes together with new gags that match the satirical, extravagant tone of the original series.
As the original series was inspired by classical West End farces, the transfer to the stage is a very natural one. As with many 1970s sitcoms, it was filmed in front of a live audience, and the original set could be easily envisioned on a theatre stage. At the Apollo Theatre, set and costume designer Liz Ascroft seamlessly merged the lobby, the office, and the dining room with an upstairs bedroom to recreate the Fawlty Towers shenanigans on stage.
The play opens with composer Dennis Wilson’s iconic string quartet theme, followed by what Basil refers to as someone ‘machine-gunning a seal’. This is Anna-Jane Casey’s Sybil Fawlty responding to her friend Audrey on the phone with a hilariously irritating laugh. We are then introduced to Adam Jackson-Smith’s Basil Fawlty as he sarcastically spars with Sybil over who should attend to a guest patiently waiting for service in the lobby. The latter is played by Steven Meo, whose performance was an unexpected standout as the uptight Mr Hutchinson. Later comes Hemi Yeroham’s wonderful recreation of the bumbling Manuel, Paul Nicholas as the senile Major Gowen, and Victoria Fox as Polly Sherman, who sounds and looks almost exactly like the original actress, Connie Booth.
Other supporting characters include Kate Russell-Smith and Nicola Sanderson as Miss Gibbs and Miss Gatsby respectively. The younger actresses make the pair of elderly, doddery ladies almost extra caricaturists. Interestingly, there were several roles played by the same actors. Several of the guests who had appeared earlier reprised roles as the German guests when they arrived for the later segment of the play. As John Cleese points out in the play’s programme, careful practical consideration was required on which episodes could be recreated on stage, given the varying size of the cast in each episode, so giving supporting actors multiple roles was a thoughtful choice.
The cast clearly faced the challenge of interpreting the characters in their own way whilst not disappointing an audience very familiar with the originals. For the most part, they succeeded. Inevitably, some of the jokes designed for the small screen didn’t quite resonate in the same way on stage. For example, whilst Jackson-Smith nailed the physicality and relentlessly exasperated tones of Basil, there were times when he’d make a remark and it didn’t quite land with the same comedic timing and context of the original series. Nevertheless, as avid Fawlty Towers followers always know what classic lines are coming next, this wouldn’t be a detraction for those raised on the original series.
Ultimately, Fawlty Towers: The Play delivers exactly what any fan of the series would want; a nostalgic revitalisation of one of Britain’s most beloved sitcoms. That said, the audience at the Apollo Theatre was not just 60-somethings seeking a reminder of the 1970s. Regular repeats of the original 12 episodes on TV have meant that an entirely new generation has enjoyed the exploits at a badly run hotel in the days when customer service training was not on the radar. Re-visiting the series on stage is a testament to how the humour has stood the test of time.
The premise is based on something universally relatable; a main character riddled with unfulfilled class-based aspirations, poor customer service and efforts to put things right that make things worse. It allows the audience to experience the charmingly funny side of the consequences of miscommunication, misunderstanding and misinterpretation of different situations. Although a reproduction can never match the same impact of the original, Fawlty Towers: The Play does a damn good job at it.
Fawlty Towers: The Play is currently showing at the Apollo Theatre until 28th September 2024.
Words by Gareth Griffiths
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