Mia Austen as Sybil and Danny Bayne as Basil bring the magic of Fawlty Towers to life on the Music Hall stage. Image - courtesy of Aberdeen Performing Arts
What do you expect to see on the Music Hall stage? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain...
Or how about just a cracking live version of the iconic Fawlty Towers, John Cleese’s sitcom that is woven into the cultural psyche of a nation?
That’s exactly what the stage show, Fawlty Towers: The Play delivered as it debuted at the Music Hall last night.
Penned by Cleese himself to mark the 50th anniversary of his creation – hailed as the “greatest British sitcom of all time” - this is essentially the greatest hits of Fawlty Towers.
The Germans, the hotel inspector, Mrs Richards and her disappointment at the view from her bedroom, were all present and correct, much to the delight and hilarity of the Music Hall audience.
And what of Basil, Sybil, Polly and Manuel? Well, there they were, on stage, working manic comedy magic just as they did 50 years ago.
Of course, it wasn’t John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Connie Booth and Andrew Sachs up there.
Danny Bayne as Basil and Hemi Yeroham as Manuel recreate iconic Fawlty Towers scenes at the Music Hall. Image - courtesy of Aberdeen Performing Arts
But the ensemble of this touring production achieved the remarkable feat of coming as close as you could possibly get to recapturing the lightning in the bottle that the originals brought to the screen in 12 glorious episodes.
Mia Austen was uncanny as the formidable Sybil, down to the cackling laugh and barbed insults at the hapless Fawlty, while Hemi Yeroham essayed a superb gormless Manuel – he’s from Barcelona.
Joanne Clifton hit all the right notes as Polly, that confident, grounded sass acting a perfect foil to Basil Fawlty’s maniacal outbursts and always simmering rage.
Which brings us neatly to Danny Bayne who was a pitch perfect Basil. He channelled Cleese’s explosive but hilarious rants, along with the consummate skills of physical comedy that cemented Fawlty as one of the best comic creations yet created,
And the audience just lapped it up – almost all of them Fawlty Towers fans. How can I be so sure? Because they were chortling in the set up to some of those iconic lines, clearly knowing what was coming, then laughing out loud as they were delivered.
Hemi Yeroham makes a magnifcent Manuel in Fawlty Towers at the Music Hall. Image - courtesy of Aberdeen Performing Arts
I’m sure people were mouthing along with the “what do you expect to see from a Torquay hotel bedroom window?” scene.
And Basil saying: “Don’t mention the war ... I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it” actually drew a round of applause amidst the laughter.
And that applause became a standing ovation as the curtain came down on the scenes of mayhem and chaos that closed out a show that was a true treat for fans of Warty Towels (if you know, you know).
Fawlty Towers: The Play is at the Music Hall until Saturday, January 24.
You can find more information and tickets via Aberdeen Performing Arts.
Review by Scott Begbie