18 September 2024
Fawlty Towers regularly tops polls of the best British TV comedies of all time and I was so unsure about the wisdom of transfering this seminal 1970s TV comedy classic to the stage that I waited several months to see it. I am happy to report that it is a total triumph with pitch perfect performances and laughs plenty. In fact it’s the perfect West End bn night out if you need a comedy pick-you-up.
John Cleese has spun together 3 of the 12 original TV episodes – Hotel Inspectors, The Germans and Communication Problems -into one seamless evening all staged on Liz Ascroft’s detailed, 1970s-in-aspic set design, which cleverly includes the titular Torquay hotel’s reception, dining room and an upstairs guest room (with no sea view!) without the need for any clunky scene changing.
It really shouldn’t work by by Basil it does! It is a skilful exercise in comforting nostalgia for those who know every line of the two series from 1975 and 1979, better still it is too funny to quibble too long about its provenance. What does emerge onstage is how much of the comedy feels rooted in theatre: the slapstick, the farcical build-up, the pay-off lines, the misery, cruelty and sheer existential terror beneath the laughs.
Shamelessly recycled, 50-year-old comic material it may be. But as shamelessly recycled 50-year-old comic material goes, John Cleese and Connie Booth’s stage replica of their classic TV comedy is still very good fun. The episodes don’t run straight through as on TV, the storylines dip and weave, with key pay offs moved in some cases. The second half of the evening, however, is a complete triumph. Communication Problems ― the one with the deaf old woman, the missing money and a win on the horses ― and The Germans (“Don’t mention the war!”) are about as good as comedy gets.
It’s a monumental task to match the indelible performances of the original TV Fawlty Towers cast: Cleese as the monstrously xenophobic and irascible hotel owner Basil Fawlty, Prunella Scales as his bouffant-haired, wife Sybil, Andrew Sachs as the well-meaning but English-mangling waiter Manuel, and Connie Booth as waitress Polly. But this West End company comes astonishingly close. They’re led by Adam Jackson-Smith (Basil), Anna-Jane Casey, (Sybil) Hemi Yeroham(Maniel), and Victoria Fox (Polly), with Paul Nicholas as the Major and Rachel Izen as deaf patron, Mrs Richards.
They are all top drawer but Jackson-Smith is faultless as Basil – he pulls off the remarkable feat of not just recreating Basil but also embodying John Cleese as Basil right down to moustache muffling his sotto voce sarcasm. He’s supple enough to do the behind the desk prat falling, the simmering volcanic rage, the sudden outbursts of manic physicality and swivelling, head-bandaged goosestep for the bewildered Germans. And he looks indecently ripped in a vest! Basil Fawlty has returned, and he’s funnier than ever; Jackson-Smith is a complete joy to watch.
Fawlty Towers The Play is a reminder that farce works best on the stage, and this is some of the finest farce ever written. make sure you check in before the show goes on tour across the UK in 2025.
Running to March 1
