CDS' Fawlty Towers; hail and farewell
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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 May 1997.
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In October, 1990, the Cayman Drama Society presented a Fawlty Towers comedy, Basil the Rat, at the opening ceremony for its new home, Prospect Playhouse. Mr. Benson Ebanks, Executive Council Member for Education, Environment, Recreation and Culture was guest speaker and Monsignor John Meaney, pastor of St. Ignatius Catholic Church, gave the blessing.
Mr. Benson has since retired from politics and Monsignor is semi-retired in Cayman Brac. Meanwhile, CDS continued the Fawlty Towers series.
Now that, too, is about to be retired after this weekend's final performances. Director Colin Wilson, who has adapted and staged all 12 episodes of the popular British farce, acacknowledged with some sadness that "All good things must come to an end".
He and the many actors who have taken part over the years indulged in a bit of nostalgia on opening night, when certificates of appreciation were presented to past and current cast members.
The role of Basil Fawlty, who operates the guest house in or around which all the action flows, has been played through the years by Roland Stacey, Clive Munyard and Tony Rowlands.
Caroline Beresford-Wylie and Penny Phillips have shared the role of Sybil, Basil's better half. While Tim Walsh and John Gaylor have also portrayed the Major, Roger Carne deserves special mention for bringing the character to life in both the first and last production.
David Godfrey is Manuel, the multi-faceted waiter. Others who had fun interpreting the role are Peter O'Sullivan, Sydney Coleman and Costas Takkas.
Molly the waitress/maid/foil has been played by Kerri Kennedy (who first inspired Colin to bring Fawlty Towers to the local stage) and Kate Bowring, a CDS veteran who has taken on dramatic, musical and comedy roles with equal competence.
The other stock character is Miss Tibbs, the elderly guest whose ways have been portrayed with attention to fine detail by Wendy Hillman and Sue Horrocks.
Phil Thomas and Valerie Cottier received their certificates for assuming a variety of roles over the years.
The current production teams Basil the Rat with Waldorf Salad, which may be especially appropriate since the Drama Society has scheduled many of the performances as dinner theatre.
The show continues this weekend (with dinner) tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 6:00 pm. There is one non-dinner performance, Saturday at 6:00 pm.
Then, after Sunday, it's all over for Fawlty Towers. Cayman Drama Society members, however, will no doubt find another vehicle for entertaining appreciative audiences.
Wittingly or not, they continue to strive towards the goal Monsignor Meaney enunciated when he quoted John the Apostle during that opening ceremony years ago: "Let us not be strangers to joy and laughter."
