The Grand Babylon Hotel – Hull Truck Theatre
London’s Savoy Hotel became a second home to the famous author Arnold Bennett, who, it is said, based his 1901 novel The Grand Babylon Hotel on the luxury establishment.
And on Thursday evening, watched playwright and ex-Coronation Street actress, Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation at the Hull Truck Theatre.
McAndrew is a co-founder (along with the show’s director Conrad Nelson) of the Claybody Theatre, based in Stoke-on-Trent, and it’s that venue’s production, in association with the New Vic, that is gracing Hull Truck’s stage this week.
Classed as a “rollicking comedy thriller”, my seat in row B afforded me a grand view of the stage setting - a patterned floor in greys, white and black upon which stood a reception desk, table, chairs, suitcases, brass Bellboy trolley and a butler’s s...