{"id":257455,"date":"2025-07-11T23:37:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T23:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/257455\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T23:37:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T23:37:09","slug":"review-fawlty-towers-the-play-at-apollo-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/257455\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Fawlty Towers \u2013 The Play, at Apollo Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Sybil (Mia Austen) in Fawlty Towers \u2013 The Play [Hugo Glendinning]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>FAWLTY TOWERS \u2013 THE PLAY<\/strong><br \/><strong>Apollo Theatre<\/strong><br \/><strong>\u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Remarkably, the iconic sitcom Fawlty Towers, created by John Cleese and Connie Booth, ran for just 12 half-hour episodes between 1975 and 1979.<\/p>\n<p>Now Cleese has adapted three classic episodes into a joyously nostalgic stage play: The Hotel Inspector, The Germans, and Communication Problems.<\/p>\n<p>The comedy ran at the Apollo in May 2024 and returns with some new cast members. Rather than reinventing the roles, the actors deliver impressive imper\u00adsonations of the original TV cast.<\/p>\n<p>The audience applauds each entrance of the beloved characters: Basil Fawlty (Danny Bayne), the uptight Torquay hotelier; his scathing wife, Sybil (Mia Austen); the hapless waiter Manuel (Hemi Yeroham); chambermaid Polly (Joanne Clifton); the senile Major (Paul Nicholas); and the guest from hell, Mrs Richards (Helen Lederer).<\/p>\n<p>The caustic dynamic between Basil and Sybil remains central to the humour. The farce, slapstick and comic routines are impeccably timed and stylishly directed by Caroline Jay Ranger.<\/p>\n<p>For those raised on this comic fodder, catchphrases such as Manuel\u2019s \u201cI know nothing\u201d and Basil\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t mention the war!\u201d still induce belly-laughs.<\/p>\n<p>Liz Ascroft\u2019s period costumes and split-level set \u2013 recreating the hotel reception, upstairs bedroom and dining room \u2013 are a delight.<\/p>\n<p>Check in now for a gleeful trip down memory lane.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Until September 13<\/strong><br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/atgtickets.com\/shows\/fawlty-towers-the-play\/apollo-theatre\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>atgtickets.com\/shows\/fawlty-towers-the-play\/apollo-theatre\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sybil (Mia Austen) in Fawlty Towers \u2013 The Play [Hugo Glendinning] FAWLTY TOWERS \u2013 THE PLAYApollo Theatre\u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606 Remarkably,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,55607,18394,18395,2764,16,15,18396],"class_list":{"0":"post-257455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-lucy-popescu","13":"tag-the-camden-new-journal","14":"tag-the-islington-tribune","15":"tag-theatre","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-west-end-extra"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114837234916505342","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}