Fawlty Towers Archives - North West End UK

13May

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Fawlty Towers – Hull New Theatre

It was standing room only in every bar and eaterie at the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday night; theatregoers were even sitting on the stairs pre-curtain up. We were all there to watch Fawlty Towers the Play - a brand-new stage production adapted by John Cleese. Who, along with his then wife, actress Connie Booth, wrote and acted in the 1975 TV comedy, Fawlty Towers, a hotel at 16 Elwood Avenue, Torquay, boasting “traditional English hospitality”. Fast forward over 50 years and Cleese has chosen three of his favourite episodes out of the original 12, to delight audiences once again. Directed by Caroline Jay Ranger, those three - The Hotel Inspectors, The Germans and Communication Problems - are so cleverly and seamlessly merged into one story, we couldn’t see the join. The stage se...

25Mar

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Fawlty Towers – Bradford Alhambra

Sometimes when a beloved sitcom gets tired and introduces daft storylines like Happy Days did it’s said to have ‘jumped the shark’. That’s something you can never say about Fawlty Towers which ran for just two perfectly formed series in the seventies. Monty Python legend John Cleese and Connie Booth’s masterpiece has regularly won the greatest ever British sitcom title, so the increasingly deranged antics of the world’s worst hotelier, Basil Fawlty, was always going to get a stage adaptation. Cleese has adapted his greatest solo work that was based on a torrid time the Python team had when they booked a stay with a very strange and rude hotelier. In many ways in our febrile political world the always rude Basil’s xenophobia, snobbery and misogyny seem to be back in vogue. Cleese w...

11Feb

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

Fawlty Towers – Wolverhampton Grand

Of course I don’t need to remind you of the high esteem in which Fawlty Towers is held not only by the international comedy loving public but also by comedic contemporaries and comedians of today. It is the one. The first and the best. Bar none. End of. Its first script was once described by an early producer as “a collection of cliches and stock characters which I can’t see being anything but a disaster.” Unlike John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs and Connie Booth that producer’s name has been consigned to history. We watch the show over and over, without tiring, in abject horror and disbelief as Basil commits the same acts of frustrated stupidity taking his indignation to dizzying heights transcending taboo after taboo. It’s a glorious fusion of British stiff-upper-lipped suppr...

9Jan

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Fawlty Towers – Leeds Grand

Fawlty Towers is regularly voted the greatest ever British sitcom, so five decades after the madcap antics of the world’s worst hotelier were first broadcast it seemed ripe for a stage adaptation. John Cleese was famously moved to co-write his comedy masterpiece with his then wife Connie Booth after the Monty Python team endured a stay at a rundown hotel run by a very strange and rude owner. Thus, the xenophobic, misogynistic and downright rude hotel owner Basil Fawlty was born. Cleese has seamlessly weaved his three favourite episodes - The Hotel Inspectors, Communication Problems and The Germans - into what is now a classic British farce, featuring a ninety-minute Basil meltdown. In many ways the adaption is spot on for an audience who have come to see comedy gold recreated right i...

Fawlty Towers The Play – Liverpool Empire

13Nov

By Emma LambeNo Comments

North West

Fawlty Towers The Play – Liverpool Empire

John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers the Play is sure to be a great night out for anyone wanting to have a good laugh. I was delighted to see John Cleese’s name on the programme, wondering whether he had any part in the plays production. His is the first name you see on the programme, down as adapted for the stage by. What a difficult task that must have been, trying to keep fans of the show happy with the expected gags, but also making sure it works on stage. Which it sure did. Danny Bayne playing the iconic Basil got the audience laughing as soon as he entered the stage and had his mannerisms and look down to a t. Matched brilliantly by Mia Austen as Sybil. Their energy bouncing lines off each other really set up the play as a whole. It was like you could almost imagine the consequences of Bas...

6Nov

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Fawlty Towers The Play – Opera House

Few British comedies have stood the test of time quite like Fawlty Towers, a series that remains one of the finest examples of farcical writing and impeccable timing ever to grace our television screens. Now, John Cleese himself has adapted the mayhem of Torquay’s most dysfunctional hotel to the stage with Fawlty Towers - The Play, directed by Caroline Jay Ranger, and currently at the Manchester Opera House as part of a UK Tour. The play cleverly combines some of the most beloved episodes from the original two series, creating a sort of ‘best of’ Fawlty Towers experience. From the chaos of the missing salad to the unforgettable fire drill and the classic German guests, the production cleverly went from one disaster to another. The two-tiered set perfectly recreates the hotel’s familiar ...

Fawlty Towers The Play – New Wimbledon Theatre

22Oct

By Maani WayNo Comments

London

Fawlty Towers The Play – New Wimbledon Theatre

John Cleese’s iconic Fawlty Towers begins its UK and Ireland tour in Wimbledon following its record-breaking sold-out run in the West End and it does not disappoint. The nostalgia is evident from the start. The iconic opening theme track plays as the audience settle down into a completely immersive and true to style sequence at Fawlty Towers. The set is eye catching and captures the essence of the series completely. The familiar reception and dining area are the perfect spaces for the dialogue and humour to play out and the characters float effortlessly between the two sets, providing the perfect backdrop for the chaos to unfold. What makes this show standout is the performances from each cast member, their impeccable acting skills and comedic timing which is a true joy to experience...