REVIEW: Fawlty Towers packed with laughs at The Court Theatre
Make a reservation to see your favourite TV comedy.
FAWLTY Towers re-opened for business last night and for the next three nights fans can wallow in nostalgia.
Putting a popular TV series on in a theatre is a risky business and the only successful production I can think of is Acorn Antiques but there the story was especially written for the stage.
So it was brave of the Tring Festival Company to perform three episodes of the classic series, opening its run last night at The Court Theatre.
The audience was clearly packed with die-hard fans, many of who were tittering at the gags before the talented cast had the chance to utter their now immortal lines.
And therein lay the problem. There are fan clubs and appreciation societies for the programme and there can hardly be a home that doesn't own the DVD or video boxed set.
So how do you perform such a recognisable comedy without it sounding stale ?
Director Mick Russon's strategy was to go with what you know. Not a character trait had been omitted or a word altered. There was nothing original here – just a homage to one of this country's favourite programmes.
And that's exactly what the audience expected.
The very impressive set by Bruce Sherring-Lucas, gave us the reception, dining room, kitchen and bar of the famous Torquay Hotel while upstairs we saw the inside of Room 22, home, in the first act, to the profoundly deaf Mrs Richards.
We were treated to Communication Problems, The Hotel Inspectors and Basil The Rat, three episodes featuring the series' most memorable visitors to the hotel.
In the first Margaret Sabatini made a frighteningly convincing Mrs Richards.
Looking like an irascible Miss Marple she glowered and accused, sniped and berated the harassed Basil Fawlty into handing over his ill-gotten gains on the gee-gees while complaining that the view of Torquay wasn't good enough and she expected something better.
Colin Tovee stole the show in Act Two as spoon salesman and all round pain in the posterior, Mr Hutchinson, who Basil mistakenly thought was a hotel inspector.
Colin, sporting a Hitler moustache and enough Brylcreem to cause a major North Sea oil slick, had fun needling his host with an assortment of demands until the demented Basil exacted his own slapstick revenge.
Someone's pet hamster got the audience vote in Basil The Rat while Wayne Maclaughlin's Manuel had a chance to step up to the plate.
He looked more like Bob Carolgees than Andrew Sachs but both wore the mantle of downtrodden pathos easily on their hunched shoulders.
Of the stock characters Emma Russon's Sybil was pitch-perfect, from the overly coiffured hair to the business suits, too much slap, and the whiny voice. Prunella Scales would have been proud.
Natalie Stockton was a wonderfully chirpy Polly who had also studied her character well before donning the prissy maid's outfit.
Richard Worland had the hardest job in playing the ostrich-legged, manically depressive, Basil. It was a tall order – literally – trying to walk in the footsteps of John Cleese and he pretty much pulled it off though, at times, he tried too hard for laughs.
We met Terry The Chef (Michael Linfield), the Major (a wonderfully blustering Gordon Bishop), and hotel regulars Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby (Eileen Reece and Chris Dearden) and all played their parts with affection.
You could stay at home and pop in the DVD to relive your favourite episode from the two series but it's actually quite fun, like being part of the studio audience, to see it performed live.
Fawlty Towers runs until Saturday (June 20).
For tickets and information contact the box office 01442 823130 or go online www.courttheatre.co.uk
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leighton Buzzard
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -8 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -5 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
