The 1970’s British sitcom, Fawlty Towers, has been adapted into a theatre show. It hits London’s West End this year, with tickets on sale February 7th.
Fawlty Towers is a 1970s British Sitcom that aired on the BBC. It follows the daily life of incompetent and short-tempered hotel manager Basil Fawlty. John Cleese, who originally played Basil, has adapted the play using material from three episodes of the BBC series – The Hotel Inspectors, The Germans, and Communication Problems – to create one narrative arc.
Cleese co-wrote the original TV series with his then-wife Connie Booth, who starred in the series as Polly. The sitcom was based on a real-life hotel owner, Donald Sinclair. When Cleese stayed at Sinclair’s Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, he became fascinated by the owner’s incredibly rude behaviour.
The show will premiere at London’s Apollo Theatre on May 4th this year. Cleese said, “We’ve been involved in the casting process for some time, being constantly reminded of what a wealth of acting talent we have in Britain – sorting the very, very, very good from the merely very, very good… finally, we assemble a top-class group of comedy actors.”
After receiving a tip about hotel inspectors in the area, Basil attempts to be unusually courteous to his guests. A party of Germans and an especially challenging guest, Mrs Richards, soon disrupt his plans.
Cleese further explained, “I’ve adapted three of my favourite episodes for the stage and written one huge finale, which will bring together the endings of all three episodes… So here we are, all the way from Torquay, via the old BBC Television Centre, to the West End! I do hope some of you will come to the Apollo to laugh together.”
Before coming to the West End, the show ran in Australia. Despite an “exemplary” cast, critics commented that there was “nothing new or exciting enough to make a compelling case for Fawlty Towers as a play.”
The London show will be directed by Caroline Jay Ranger, who worked on “Only Fools and Horses: The Musical” and “Monty Python Live”. The cast includes Adam Jackson-Smith as Basil Fawlty, Anna-Jane Casey as his wife Sybil, Hemi Yeroham as waiter Manuel, and Victoria Fox as Polly – the maid who often rescues Basil from difficult situations.
Tickets for the show go on sale on February 7.
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