Fawlty Towers: The Play – iNews

Fawlty Towers

Fawlty Towers The Play review: John Cleese has recreated the magic

★★★★

I went in sceptical – and emerged two hours later, giddily and delightfully weak from laughing

Does the West End truly require a stage adaptation of the greatest British sitcom ever made? I posed this question somewhat gloomily to myself as I entered the Apollo Theatre – and emerged two hours later, giddily and delightfully weak from laughing and reminded for the umpteenth time of the sheer folly of making pre-emptive judgements about shows.

Fawlty Towers The Play will, almost inevitably, induce some highbrow breast-beating lament along “Whither British theatre?” lines. Yet not every production needs to be Robert Icke-style groundbreaking or punchy new drama. Sometimes, plain old entertainment, an all-round good time, is exactly what is called for and that is precisely what this provides, with (reception) bells on.

The reassuring news, for fans of those iconic 12 episodes that first aired on the BBC in 1975, is that John Cleese himself has written this theatrical adaptation. He has taken three of his favourite episodes – “The Hotel Inspector”, “The Germans” and “Communication Problems”, featuring that gloriously abrasive deaf lady Mrs Richards – and woven them together skilfully, adding a (somewhat rushed) conclusion to tie them all together. The slickness of Cleese’s new script is crucial, leaving no suggestion of much-loved material simply being dumped on a stage and left to fend for itself.

Director Caroline Jay Ranger, whose previous West End credits include the musical spin on Only Fools and Horses, writes perceptively in a programme note of the importance of creating “a freshness for the theatre and a reality for any new audience”, and that is precisely what she supplies. Her super-smooth production, in which the jaunty theme music receives a warm round of applause before a single word has even been spoken, ensures that it is a pleasure to revisit these perfectly sculpted characters and situations once again.

Integral to the success of this enterprise is the fact that the actors do not simply offer hollow impersonations of Basil, Sybil and the rest. They flesh the parts out plumply, while confidently providing all the tics and traits that we have come to know and love so well. Adam Jackson-Smith is exquisite as Basil, capturing all of Cleese’s long-legged mania and seething with quietly mounting fury as guests make irksome demands and the mangy moose head that he has proudly mounted in reception keeps tumbling off the wall.

Anna-Jane Casey has Sybil’s marvellous swooping inflections and a laugh that is akin to being strafed by a machine gun. A pesky ingrowing toenail means that Sybil is in hospital for much of the second half and this gorgon of the reception desk is greatly missed.

At a brisk two hours including interval, there is no chance of the show outstaying its welcome, unlike some of the hotel guests. In a programme interview, the ever-canny Cleese hints at the possibility of a sequel. Just as well – this leaves us wanting more, much more.

Fiona Mountford – May 15, 2024

https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/fawlty-towers-the-play-review-john-cleese-3057824