Fawlty Towers – The Play at Manchester Opera House review: Classic John Cleese comedy delivers legendary farce
Fawlty Towers – The Play will be at Manchester Opera House until Saturday, November 8
Basil Fawlty and Manuel in Fawlty Towers – The Play
The distinctive taste of the English Riviera has arrived in Manchester following the opening of classic comedy Fawlty Towers.
After its West End stint, Fawlty Towers – The Play is welcoming guests to theatres across the UK as part of its debut tour. Based on the iconic TV comedy, created by John Cleese and Connie Booth, the stage production interweaves three of the best-loved episodes of Fawlty Towers – The Hotel Inspectors, Communication Problems and The Germans.
Those in attendance to see its Manchester run open at the city’s Opera House on Tuesday evening enjoyed a riotous recreation of the beloved 1970s sitcom – which often features at the top end of lists celebrating Britain’s best of all-time.
The packed venue transformed into Torquay’s most haphazard guesthouse. Aficionados are sure to love the little details across the set encompassing the reception and dining room of Fawlty Towers.
The production, directed by Caroline Jay Ranger, finds Basil Fawlty in resentment of his patrons and their, mostly reasonable, whims.
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Buttoning up John Cleese’s snazzy green cardi is no enviable task. But lead Danny Bayne perfectly captures Mr Fawlty’s exasperation and despair, with lots of gangly elasticity, as the beleaguered hotelier is pushed to the brink by the demands of Mr Hutchinson and the deaf Mrs Richards who refuses to turn her hearing aid on.
The Fawlty relationship is one of the highlights from Fawlty Towers – The Play
The protagonist found equally at odds with his wife Sybil. The confident and assured foil played with aplomb by Mia Austen in a performance which is worthy of honouring the late Prunella Scales – who sadly died last week.
The famous Fawlty Towers slapstick moments warmly fashioned by Bayne’s stricken host and waiter ‘he’s from Barcelona’ Manuel – portrayed by Hemi Yeroham echoing the beloved hapless sidekick forged with such panache by Andrew Sachs in the original series.
Of course, the play can realistically be enjoyed best by avid fans of the original, but there’s enough quick-witted humour for those making a first visit to Fawlty Towers. Much of the sharp Cleese and Booth writing remains – with notably some appropriate reworkings for 2025.
You can catch Fawlty Towers – The Play at Manchester Opera House until Saturday, November 8(Image: Hugo Glendinning)
The laugh-inducing dialogue from three of the best Fawlty Towers episodes carefully constructed to create one complete stage narrative. The set-pieces including the mounting of a moose’s head and a sticky goodbye for Mr Hutchinson being some of the play’s highlights.
The wonderful farce sees Paul Nicholas’ forgetful Major given ample opportunity, in the second act, to delight the audience while sending Fawlty to the furthest end of his tether.
At a time when he’s at his most neurotic with international relations pushed to the brink during a visit by some German guests. The concluding segment seeing the hotel sign defaced, in time honoured Fawlty Towers fashion, to read ‘Fatty Owls’ in another little touch which is sure to satisfy devotees.
Lots of classic Fawlty Towers scenes have been recreated
Strictly Come Dancing professional Joanne Clifton, who won the BBC show paired with Ore Oduba, dons the maid’s bow as Polly, the most reasoned of all those under the Fawlty Towers roof, to hold all the frivolities together.
Fawlty Towers – The Play is certainly worth checking-in for during its short stay in Manchester.
Fawlty Towers – The Play will be at Manchester Opera House until Saturday, November 8. You can find out more and buy tickets here.
