Fawlty Towers: the history
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from June 1996.
Brought to you by
This weekend the series continues as "The Anniversary Party Meets the Germans" plays for the second week in its three-week run at the Prospect Playhouse.
The series actually started as a one-off show. Colin Wilson, who adapted the scripts for the stage and directed all the performances, decided that "Fawlty Towers" the TV series was "very funny" and might be fun to do on stage, he said. It was originally due to be performed for the designated run, then Fawlty on stage was going to be put to bed. However, audiences thought otherwise.
The first episode tackled was "Touch of Class", performed in late April and early May of 1990. It was played out on a tiny stage in The Victory Theatre, a small storage room above The Lord Nelson Pub on West Bay Road which had been converted into a playhouse for the Society's use.
The main cast was made up of Roland Stacey (now better known as Mr. Mussels) as Basil, Caroline Beresford-Wiley as Sybil, Peter O'Sullivan as Manuel, Kerri Kennedy as Polly and Tim Walsh as Major Cowan.
While the names of these characters are still listed in the programme, the actors' names associated with them have changed over the years. The most constant actor was Caroline Beres. ford-Wylie, who played Sybil in every episode up until the most recent offering. Penny Philips, another well-known face on the CDS stage stepped into the character's plaid suit and blonde wig at the last minute.
Sybil's significant other, Basil, was only played by Roland Stacey for the first two episodes performed. Two more actors were to try the role.
By September of 1991 the Society had moved into its own home - the Prospect Playhouse. In an ambitious move, Colin Wilson put three episodes of the show onto the stage: "Communication Problems", "The Kipper and the Corpse" and "The Psychiatrist".
Tony Rowlands was asked to perform, but to his disappointment had to withdraw due to ear problems. Clive Munyard took up the challenge and stuck with the character through the next four episodes.
Putting the stories of three episodes on the stage together proved to be difficult, so Mr. Wilson moved to the one-and-one format. Each episode commanded one act of a two-act play, and each had references to the other for continuity. The next ones to be performed were "A Gourmet Evening" and "The Builders" in June of 1992 and "The Hotel Inspector".and "The Wedding Party" from mid-November to mid-December in 1993.
Three years later, CDS is now presenting "The Anniversary Party" and "The Germans". Clive Munyard had to bow out of the lead role, and Tony Rowlands has finally taken centre stage..
Although staging these Cont'd on page A4 from page A3
two episodes was fun, Mr. Wilson said they were the most difficult. Mr. Wilson explained that adaptations of the original "Fawlty Towers" scripts have to be made to fit with the set possibilities on the stage.
A design created by Paul de Freitas in 1991 for the Prospect Playhouse stage, stuck with the series. It involved half walls giving the audience the impression of the small boarding house, but the ability to see into other rooms through walls. The set consisted of the lobby, restaurant, bar, front door, two doors for downstairs bedrooms, stairs leading to the second floor and windows to the office and kitchen.
While the set does encompass quite a wide area in the hotel, some necessarily left out. Thus, some scenes have to be adapted to fit into the space provided.
For example, in "The Anniversary Party" a good portion of the TV show took place in Basil and Sybil's bedroom. This had to be moved to the restaurant and bar for the staged version.
Also, the visitors featured in the TV show were only supposed to be at the hotel for the party, but to keep continuity Mr. Wilson adapted the script so they stayed a week and could thus play the parts of hotel guests in "The Germans". Some other changes Mr. Wilson has made over the years in different episodes involve building up. the parts of some of the smaller characters. In the TV version two elderly ladies consistently appeared as walk-on roles. The characters of Mrs. Tibbs and Mrs. Gatsby fell to just Mrs. Tibbs in the staged version, although she always talked about Mrs. Gatsby who had died.
While the CDS version of "Fawlty Towers" is based on the TV series, the local shows do differ in interpretation.
"I really didn't want a carbon copy of the TV show. There's no point in that," said Mr. Wilson. Watching the episodes on video before acting in the roles, was forbidden so actors could take their own angle on the jokes instead of imitating the movements of John Cleese and Prunella Scales, who made the roles of Basil and Sybil famous on the screen.
Only one of the original episodes has not graced the CDS stage now. "Waldorf Salad" will be played next year with a return of "Basil the Rat", which was first performed in September and October of 1990.
"The Anniversary Party Meets the Germans" is playing 14, 15 and 19 to 22 June at the Prospect Playhouse. Tickets are $25 for dinner theatre served on Fridays, and $12.50 for other nights. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 949-5585. The curtain opens at 7:30pm.
