For those of a certain age Fawlty Towers is perhaps the greatest British sitcom. The stage adaptation at the Winter Gardens was pretty faithful to the original John Cleese and Connie Booth masterpieces, but how did the jokes fare 50 years on? Stephen Dunstan went along to find out.
The short answer is it was very good. All the key protagonists were true to the original characters in my view, from the moment that Sybil sniggered on the phone in the first few lines to the chaotic ending involving firearms and general mayhem.
The greatest compliment I can pay to this production is that I didn’t know that several of the leads weren’t available on opening night. The person who attended with me saw the signs notifying of this, I missed it and was very surprised when I was informed.
It was no surprise to find out that the adaptation is done by John Cleese himself. There was only ever 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers, and the best jokes and plots from them are interwoven in a plausible way. The only real omission for devotees of the original plots is in my view the cowboy builder Mr O’Reilly played by the late David Kelly. Given this play does the slapstick and physicality really well this character would have fitted well alongside the put upon Manuel.
Otherwise everything you would expect is there. The bet on a racehorse called Dragonfly, the spoon salesman who fights back when Basil gets stroppy, the fire alarm farce, the views from a Torquay hotel window and, above all, the Germans! It’s probably appropriate to point out that there are different views on whether the German war jokes have stood the test of time, they went down very well in the theatre but it’s as well to be forewarned if you think they may offend you.
Watching the Fawlty Towers stage show is a bit like watching say The Rocky Horror Show. Part of the charm is that you know the gags as well as song numbers in a musical, and you’re grinning in anticipation. If you go along as a devotee you won’t be disappointed. I imagine everyone in the auditorium knew what was coming but the cast still enjoyed a rapturous ovation at the end and people clearly went home supremely entertained.
One of the reasons the original series was so highly regarded was because it went out whilst it was on top, leaving people wanting more. John Cleese is now working on new episodes 50 years later and it’s not clear how these will impact on the legacy of the originals if they see the light of day. What is clear is that the stage production does full justice to the original two television series, and if you were an avid fan of those you should see this.
There are showings today (Good Friday) at 7.30 and on Easter Saturday at 2.30 and 7.30. For ticket details click here.
