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You are here: Home / Arts / Review: Fawlty Towers by Chameleon Theatre Company

Review: Fawlty Towers by Chameleon Theatre Company

April 24, 2015 By Ben Williams 12 Comments

Wednesday was the first showing of the Chameleon Theatre Company’s Fawlty Towers.

I got to see it on Tuesday night at a free “press screening” and a special night to entertain the elderly from our local nursing homes in Chandler’s Ford.

Here is my review of the show. I will discuss the show in depth so watch it before reading on.

Basil (Dave Wilkins) was struggling to deal with guests at Fawlty Towers. Mr Walt (Stephen Fenerty; left) and Mr Hutchison (Wayne Bradshaw; right).
Basil (Dave Wilkins) was struggling to deal with guests at Fawlty Towers. Mr Walt (Stephen Fenerty; left) and Mr Hutchison (Wayne Bradshaw; right).

Based on the TV show (which I haven’t seen, yet), the show involves around Basil Fawlty, an insane and easy-to-annoy hotel manager who hates his guests. He runs the hotel with his wife, Sybil, and Manuel, his waiter, along with other characters. Three episodes are adapted, so I will look at each one individually.

Fawlty Towers: Basil Fawlty (Dave Wilkins), Sybil (Marilyn Dunbar), Polly (Lisa Dunbar), and Manuel (Terry James).
Fawlty Towers: Basil Fawlty (Dave Wilkins), Sybil (Marilyn Dunbar), Polly (Lisa Dunbar), and Manuel (Terry James).

A Touch of Class

In this part, a rich and important person called Lord Melbury visits the hotel, so Basil has to be nice and incredibly polite to him. There are lots of running gags in this one, including a picture being hung up, Manuel’s inability to understand many English words, and a customer who never gets his order.

What makes this part funny is Basil’s inability to function normally. He moves guests out of their table to appease Lord Melbury (who really doesn’t care about Basil’s efforts) and tries to tell Manuel to fetch the wine list despite it being right in front of him. In short, Basil is a control freak, who completely loses it in several comedic scenes in all three sections. My favourite part of this particular section is the running gag of the picture being put up.

Danny (sitting) is after Lord Melbury (rehearsal image).
Rehearsal image: Danny (sitting, played by Paul Jones) was after Lord Melbury. With Basil (Dave Wilkins) and Manuel (Terry James).

The Hotel Inspectors

This one is my favourite. Basil becomes paranoid about local hotel inspectors and comes under the assumption that Mr Hutchinson, a guest who he thoroughly dislikes, is one of them. Meanwhile a second guest, Mr Walt, is trying to have a normal stay, but is caught up in Basil’s schemes.

The best thing about this is the use of mistaken identity. It is hard to guess which guest is the inspector, and Basil tries to satisfy them both. A hilarious part revolves Basil trying to open a wine bottle. It also doesn’t help Basil that mishaps keep happening to him, as his attempts to make the hotel look manageable fall flat. Mr Hutchinson is an incredibly obnoxious and vocal person, which forces Basil to try and silence him in case Mr Walt, who he assumes is a hotel inspector, sees, Basil does this by choking Mr Hutchinson unconscious, which is incredibly funny.

The moment Basil (played by Dave Wilkins) met the Hotel Inspectors.
The moment Basil (played by Dave Wilkins) met the Hotel Inspectors.

The other funny thing is the ending, when Basil thinks he’s won. This is hilarious given the previous events in the episode. I won’t give it away but it is very funny and somewhat satisfying.

Communication Problems

This episode revolves around Mrs Richards whose picky remarks (the room is cold, the bath is too small, the view is invisible and the radio doesn’t work) drive Basil insane. He is also trying to hide his horse betting win money from his wife; however, this plan fails when Mrs Richards complains her money is stolen.

Basil asked Manuel to help him bet on a horse.
Basil (Dave Wilkins) asked Manuel (Terry James) to help him bet on a horse without wanting Sybil to know.

The two plots in this work really well together, as they both merge together like any good comedy. This section features my favourite exchange of the whole show, between Basil and Mrs Richards, his guest. The scene is absolutely hilarious.

Mrs Richards is very demanding.
Mrs Richards (Liz Strevens) was very demanding. With Sybil (Marilyn Dunbar) and Basil (Dave Wilkins).
Basil was distraught. Kerr (Nick Coleman) came to bring him good news.
Basil was distraught. Kerr (Nick Coleman) came to bring him good news.

Overall, this is a great show if you want a night out with lots of laughs. I now want to watch the original show and watch the other episodes of it. The comedy is similar to Monty Python, Blackadder and other British comedies. The use of language and character stereotypes are distinctly British, so if you like British comedies, like me, you’ll love this show.

Director of Fawlty Towers: Gillian Wilkins

Our Chandler's Ford neighbours from local nursing homes enjoyed an evening of laughter. They came in three One Community buses.
Our Chandler’s Ford neighbours from local nursing homes enjoyed an evening of laughter.
They came in three One Community buses.

Here are some highlights from the productions of Fawlty Towers, presented by Chameleon Theatre Company, Chandler’s Ford.

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Editor’s note: The original version of Fawlty Towers theatre review was published on 23rd April 2015 in Ben Williams’s World.

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Tags: arts and crafts, Chameleon Theatre, Chandler's Ford, community, entertainment, event, Hursley Road, local interest, review, Ritchie Memorial Hall

About Ben Williams

Ben is studying film and English at University of Southampton. He writes cool stuff - science fiction, Doctor Who, film reviews, and history.

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Comments

  1. Ray Fishman says

    April 24, 2015 at 9:06 am

    Well we knew the shows very well and thought it would be impossible to replicate the characters and style.

    Pleased to say the productions were all excellent. Basil Fawlty was played to perfection, and all characters played their parts so well. There is no room to interpret the comedies any other way than as the original and Chameleons excelled themselves. Shows all sold out so if you haven’t got a ticket you have missed a treat.

    Also the new style programme produced by the Club is excellent too.

    Well done all, nice to see the youngsters on stage and in the audience too, the Club goes from strength to strength.

    Reply
  2. Hazel Bateman says

    April 24, 2015 at 11:41 am

    I missed this one, but it sounds like the Chameleons were keeping up their exceptionally high standard! Looking forward to their next production.

    Reply

Trackbacks

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