PUBLISHED April 7th, 2016 06:30 am | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 03:03 pm
Faulty Towers – The Dining Experience is back in town! Based on popular British sitcom Fawlty Towers (1975-1979), this interactive show takes the format of a three-course meal, served in suitably shambolic style by Basil, Sybil and Manuel, who are the main protagonists in the comedy. One-third scripted and two-thirds improvised, this hilarious production has played to a total audience of more than half a million in 20 countries since 1997.
The Original Backstory
Set in a crumbling seaside hotel in Torquay, Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) and his long-suffering wife Sybil (Prunella Scales) first appeared on British television in a sitcom set. The series was based on a temperamental real-life hotelier encountered on location by the cast of Monty Python. Having achieved cult status and attracted new generations of fans, Fawlty Towers was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
The cast at the Raffles Hotel this year features Donna Gray as Sybil, Jordan Edmeades as Basil, and Anthony Sottile as Manuel, the dim, constantly confused Spanish waiter with a not-so-good grasp of English.
The Dining Experience
On opening night, we waited in the foyer, nursing average drinks from the incredibly over priced bar. Basil started calling out names and ushering in the guests brusquely (as expected). Manuel was told to serve the nuts, which he did by using a tray as a tennis racquet and pelting the guests with peanuts! Sybil, resplendent in a pink outfit and shocking blue eye shadow, welcomed us to the ‘Restaurant’ (aka the Casurina Suite at Raffles Hotel).
Once seated, Basil began yelling at Manuel to put the bread rolls on the plates. Manuel, in turn, misinterpreted the order as one to roll on a plate. Cue more antics and mishaps with the bread rolls – Basil banging them on the table, Manuel throwing them at the guests.
As with all interactive performances, the guests are not spared. Basil and Sybil and Manuel came around regularly to interact with guests, which more often than not, meant poking fun at them. But I am happy to say that the audience members rose to the occasion.
Anthony Sottile as Manuel provided a lot of the comic fun. He stood on a table and encouraged the audience to sing ‘Viva Espania’, and got a man to pretend to be a bull while he acted as a matador with the napkin. There was some manhandling of guests, but fortunately, everyone were good sports.
There were also references to the less than competent, alcoholic chef manning the kitchen, who apparently dropped a pair of false teeth in the soup by accident. This resulted in Manuel visiting the tables and stirring the guests’ soup to check for the teeth. The Raffles Hotel waiters at the ‘Restaurant’ blended in with the performance and served everyone promptly, while the actors played their parts.
Donna Gray was particularly good. She had Sybil down to a T – the voice, the dreadful laugh, the hairdo, the frills, and pink shoes. She bossed Basil around, wanting to know why guests had not been seated yet, why Manuel was taking people’s glasses away from them when they hadn’t finished drinking, and apologized for Basil and Manuel (‘He’s from Barcelona’). She even gave an off-key rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ for two guests in true Sybil fashion while Basil rolled his eyes and stuffed a handkerchief in each ear!
Fans of the show can also expect loosely recreated classic scenes from the series – Basil asking Manuel to place a bet on a horse race, the fire drill and pet rat (also called Basil) that escapes and has to be found.
The trio were energetic and convincing impersonators, expertly nailing Cleese, Scales, and Sachs’s voices and mannerisms. They really carried the evening off by mingling seamlessly with the diners and making sure to involve them in the action.
Food-wise, the three-course dinner was pleasant but unremarkable. They could have been more generous with the bread rolls that came with the mushroom soup. No complains about the chicken breast was fine but the accompaniments of one carrot, a piece of asparagus, a small mound of mashed potato and salty brown gravy weren’t substantial.
I enjoyed the evening very much, but I have to admit that pricing – starting at $179 per person – took the edge off things. Several other guests mentioned this as well; understandably so since there aren’t any drink inclusions with the dinner.
Also, we expected the actors to return as themselves after the end and mingle with the audience but they did not put in an appearance. This was a pity, as many of us would have enjoyed meeting them.
In spite of this, the show did deliver an evening of entertainment and mayhem. Both fans of the sitcom and newbies will enjoy this two-hour trip down classic comedy memory lane.
Faulty Towers – The Dining Experience is on at Raffles Hotel till 10 April 2016. For more information and tickets, see SISTIC.