FAWLTY TOWERS THE PLAY

Apollo Theatre

★★★★

“the stage becomes a compressed farce machine – a pressure cooker of mounting chaos”

Reviving a show as beloved as Fawlty Towers for the stage is a feat fraught with danger. With just 12 original episodes broadcast in the 1970s, the sitcom has long enjoyed legendary status. So, how do you take something that is perfect in its own right, wrap it in theatrical garb, and not break it in the process?

The answer, it seems, is by doubling down on what people already adore. Director Caroline Jay Ranger’s slick, affectionate production at the Apollo Theatre does little to reimagine the world of Torquay’s most dysfunctional hotel, but it does an impeccable job of reanimating it.

This is not so much a reinvention as a meticulous act of resurrection. The script, overseen by John Cleese himself, splices together three of the series’ most memorable episodes – The Germans, The Hotel Inspectors, and Communication Problems – into a 90-minute parade of familiar gags, lovingly preserved and expertly timed.

This is a jukebox comedy, playing the greatest hits for the faithful:

Don’t mention the war. Check.

I know nothing. Check.

May I ask what you expected to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Check.

There’s enormous pleasure in watching Danny Bayne goose-step and rage his way into Basil Fawlty’s frustrated shoes. His performance is an astonishing feat of mimicry, down to the clipped vowels and furious flailing limbs, provoking cheers not just for the comedy but for the uncanny likeness to Cleese himself.

The supporting cast are similarly faithful to their television forebears. Mia Austen is spookily accurate as Sybil, her grating laugh and imperious glare brilliantly intact. Joanne Clifton channels Connie Booth’s Polly with quiet efficiency, while Hemi Yeroham turns in a wink-to-the-crowd Manuel. Paul Nicholas, meanwhile, gently steals his scenes as the absent-minded Major with a twinkle in the eye.

Designer Liz Ascroft deserves special praise for conjuring the hotel’s multiple settings within a single, beautifully retro set, even allowing for an exterior view of that classic black and white hotel façade (and sign). With cleverly arranged spaces for reception, dining room and guest quarters, the stage becomes a compressed farce machine – a pressure cooker of mounting chaos.

And indeed, the play’s structure, while episodic, leans into the genre’s strengths. The escalating misunderstandings, linguistic blunders and slapstick near-disasters all translate well to live performance. Few comedies have ever lent themselves so easily to farce.

While the adaptation’s loyalty is its triumph, it is also its limit. By mining the original show for greatest hits, the production struggles to establish its own momentum. Lines have been trimmed or lightly updated, but the framework remains largely untouched. The jokes are still funny – often hilariously so – but they’re jokes we already know. The audience laughs with a sense of shared affection.

People – giddy with glee – were applauding in recognition of an iconic line, character, or episode long before they duly arrived.

There’s no denying the sheer craft and zest on display. Ranger and her cast have pulled off a tricky balancing act, creating a stage experience that honours its source without sinking into lazy pastiche. It doesn’t reimagine Fawlty Towers for a new generation, because it doesn’t have to (and maybe the xenophobic tendencies make the material too problematic to try).

It simply invites us back, to laugh, remember, and marvel at the little slice of perfection John Cleese and Connie Booth carved into the very English comic canon.

FAWLTY TOWERS THE PLAY

Apollo Theatre followed by UK Tour from September

Reviewed on 3rd July 2025

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Hugo Glendinning

Previously reviewed at this venue:

RETROGRADE | ★★★★ | March 2025

FAWLTY TOWERS THE PLAY | ★★★★★ | May 2024

MIND MANGLER | ★★★★ | March 2024

THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE | ★★★ | November 2023

POTTED PANTO | ★★★★★ | December 2022

CRUISE | ★★★★★ | August 2022

MONDAY NIGHT AT THE APOLLO | ★★★½ | May 2021

FAWLTY

★★

“There’s much here that could be funny if only it were slicker, shorter and snappier.”

I must admit to not having seen the first Cluedo stage adaptation, but I am reassured that this second play is all new (writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran). I can confess to having spent many hours playing the legendary board game in my youth and thought myself an expert sleuth at the time (with rather a secret crush on Miss Scarlett). So I was delighted to see on entering the theatre, a beautifully designed set comprising a giant portrayal of the classic gameboard with a cartoonesque manor house superimposed upon it (designer David Farley).

There is nothing noir or sinister about this production, and nor should there be. We see a shady character lurking in the shadows on occasions but, otherwise, the gruesome nature of murder by whoever, wherever, with whatever is lighthearted. The characters are as cardboard cutout as they can be, resembling it too, as they often stand so statically (director Mark Bell). Nearly the whole ensemble overplay their roles, but the production lacks a twinkle in the eye or a knowing acknowledgement that this is what they are doing.

The plot, such as it is, sees 1960s rock superstar Rick Black (Liam Horrigan) assemble a group of people in his massive country manor house to assess the new album which is going to resuscitate his floundering career. A slow preamble lets us in on backstory amongst the gathering and we discover past and present liaisons, secret identities, and who might have it in for whom if pushed far enough. There could be a lot of fun to be had here but much of the narrative is too long and too slow. Running gags run on too far and the staging is often clumsy and ponderous. We are also witness to a most contrived and least convincing love scene.

The characters are, of course, dressed in their appropriate colours but not garishly so. Colonel Mustard could have been yellower, Professor Plum more purple. Miss Scarlett certainly looks the part in a bright red mini dress, and Mrs Peacock too in an elegant blue gown. Between scenes, quasi-balletic sequences see the group of suspects and soon-to-be victims move around the house often in effective slow motion (movement director Anna Healey). Windows, doors, and picture frames are flown in and out as the company explores the building from room to room.

Sadly, the ensemble isn’t as slick as it could be. Jason Durr as Colonel Mustard shouts in a broad southern states American accent that greatly affects the clarity of his diction. Ellie Leach (in her stage debut) as Miss Scarlett is competent enough but lacks nuance. Edward Howells as the non-professor Professor Plum does what he can with a character so weak that he can’t himself explain quite what he is doing there. However, Hannah Boyce as Mrs Peacock commands the stage and our attention, holding her character and accent throughout. Dawn Buckland gives the performance of the night as the down-to-earth Cook, Mrs White, who pops up in unexpected places suggesting she knows the secrets of the house’s hidden passages. Jack Bennett as the “I’m an actor, not a butler” butler Wadsworth carries a single joke and much of the weight of the physical comedy.

But the whole thing doesn’t quite hold together. There’s much here that could be funny if only it were slicker, shorter and snappier.

FAWLTY TOWERS THE PLAY

Apollo Theatre

★★★★

“the stage becomes a compressed farce machine – a pressure cooker of mounting chaos”

FAWLTY TOWERS THE PLAY

Apollo Theatre followed by UK Tour from September

Reviewed on 3rd July 2025

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Hugo Glendinning

Previously reviewed at this venue:

FAWLTY

FAWLTY

FAWLTY

CLUEDO 2: THE NEXT CHAPTER at Cambridge Arts Theatre

★★

“There’s much here that could be funny if only it were slicker, shorter and snappier.”

CLUEDO 2: THE NEXT CHAPTER at Cambridge Arts Theatre

Reviewed on 25th March 2024

by Phillip Money

Photography by Alastair Muir

UK tour of Cluedo 2 continues to July – click logo below for further info

Previously reviewed at this venue:

CLUEDO 2

CLUEDO 2

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