FAULTY TOWERS: THE DINING EXPERIENCE | LIVE REVIEW
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Tues 4 Feb.
From the moment hotel owner Basil called us to our tables and muttered judging comments as we were ushered in (personally we were treated to a sarcastic “Thought you’d put an effort in did you!”) I was hooked.
The Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience is part three course meal and part theatre performance. Returning to the Wales Millennium Centre year on year the show sells out quickly every time and we were about to find out why.
Based on the much loved 1970s sit-com Fawlty Towers, the night revolves around a meal at the hotel famous for amusing incompetence, strained (to say the least) relationships and larger-than-life characters. The best part of the show, however, is that you are the guests and subject to the jokes and japes of characters made famous by John Clease, Andrew Sachs and Prunella Scales.
As guessed everything goes wrong (I will try not to give too much away but expect personal objects to get lost in the soup, food to be thrown at you and plenty of staff beatings) as the Faulty characters serve you their meal.
Hotel owner Basil was played perfectly by Jack Baldwin as his every flailing gesture and wide eyed, tight jawed facial expression looked like the result of much Fawlty themed study. Brian Roche’s Manuel also brilliantly captured his humorous confusion, and got a few panto-like ‘aws’ as well as many laughs. Despite all the ‘incompetence’ Basil’s fellow owner and wife Sybil, played by Donna Gray, kept the night running smoothly as she moved around tables getting away with her less-than-polite comments on diners by rounding them off with her excellent replication of Sybil’s famous shrill cackle.
The food, provided by the Millennium Centre’s Ffresh, was simple but done well with a tomato soup to start, chicken and vegetable main and a beautifully silky black forest gateau to finish off.
The food, however, wasn’t why we were there and the true highlights of the night was the sly looks and snide comments made by the characters as they walked around the dining area. Unlike TV or more traditional stage theatre your gaze wasn’t always directed and you got glimpses of these moments of absolute comic genius!
The only disadvantage to this immersion was the constant twisting and turning you had to do to keep up, but it was a sacrifice well worth it to witness all the hilarious small moments happening around us.
Over all the night we wonderfully immersive and the epitome of what a ‘TV dinner’ should be. Now I’m only hoping that the people at Interactive Theatre International, who produce the show, branch out and take on more classic characters (personally I would be first in line for an ‘Allo ‘Allo! themed meal).
words HEATHER ARNOLD photo RON RUTTEN