By Tim Saunders
Awkward customers and how to deal with them. That’s the idea behind what has been dubbed the best comedy of all time on British television, Fawlty Towers.
And now it’s come to the stage. Fresh from the West End, it is now touring regional theatres and is at Kings Theatre Portsmouth until June 20. We’re extremely fortunate to have such talent visiting our doorstep.
Co-written by John Cleese and Connie Booth (who were married in real life at the time), the two series were broadcast on the BBC in the 1970s. Adapted for stage by John Cleese, the script is pleasingly very much the same as the original and therefore just as hilarious. There are two acts with an interval and within this the audience is treated to a snapshot of some very memorable sequences on a set that is as you would expect. It’s a clever construction and nicely decorated.
“I can’t believe that Basil (Danny Bayne) does the silly walk,” says Heidi (13), who loves Fawlty Towers and is chuckling away throughout. “I keep trying to do it but cannot master it for the life of me. I like Manuel (Hemi Yeroham) who is a bit different to Andrew Sachs and brings his own flair to the role, too.”
For me Mr Hutchinson (Greg Haiste) and The Major (Paul Nicholas) are exemplary. They follow in the footsteps of Bernard Cribbins and Ballard Berkeley who made these characters their own. But shut your eyes and Greg and Paul have really nailed it.
Who would have thought that a cheese salad would be so difficult to order?
Evening and matinee performances until June 20.
