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Fawlty Towers

Author: John E Thomas

Information

Date
21st June 2012
Society
Fareham Musical Society
Venue
Ferneham Hall, Fareham
Type of Production
Play
Director
Marina Voak and Graeme Clements

~~The evening was made up of 3 episodes of the show: ‘Communication Problems’, 'The Hotel Inspectors’ and 'The Germans. The curtain opened to reveal an excellent set which gave a flavour of the TV original without being a slavishly reproduced copy, with hotel lobby and office stage right and dining room and kitchen stage centre to left. Scene changes were handled smoothly and with a slick professionalism: full marks to the technical team. Jonathan Redwood led the cast as Basil Fawlty, the irascible, put-upon hotelier and gave a confident performance in the role created and portrayed by John Cleese on TV. Clearly loved by the audience, Jonathan’s humorous performance was always going to be compared to that of John Cleese and he did very well. Marina Voak as Sybil bounced through proceedings with the long-suffering froideur required of the role and Peter Taylor made a delightfully dotty Major.
Graeme Clements gave a tremendous performance as Manuel and together with Alexandra Maclean as Polly impressed with their interpretations of two more regular characters from the show: they really added flesh to the bones of their characters, giving them a commendable solidity.
Caroline Balcom and Elaine Rogers as Miss Gatsby and Miss Tibbs completed the line-up of hotel regulars, bringing a breezy humour to the stage. Other smaller roles were played with confidence by the rest of the cast and it was great to see the teamwork evident in making the show run smoothly. Each of the three episodes gave the audience a great deal of humour and any concerns about the nature of the transition from screen to stage, the large audience clearly enjoyed the evening; rewarding the production with gales of laughter and appreciative applause.

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