Adelaide Fringe review 2017: Faulty Towers the Dining Experience
DON’T mind them, they’re from the show. Plunge headlong into Basil and Sybil’s crazy world where bad service is the norm and anything can and will happen.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience
Theatre *****
Strathmore Hotel – Balcony Restaurant, until March 19
OK, so this wasn’t what I had expected...
We’ll go along, eat some food and watch some people act out some classic scenes from the iconic British comedy, I thought.
How wrong I was!
You’re not simply watching a show. You’re in it, a part of it, a character in it, and in the crazy world of Faulty Towers, anything can happen.
It’s the most wonderfully ridiculous pantomime that doesn’t border on, but dives headfirst into insanity.
Food is thrown, tables are climbed on, guests are criticised, women are objectified and the staff assault each other.
Sadly it’s not the worst service I’ve had ...
The characterisations here are flawless, and I mean flawless.
Rob Langston perfectly embodies Cleese’s legendary Basil, Karina Garnett kills it as Sybil and Anthony Sottile steals the show as Manuel.
With around 70 per cent of the show improvised, it’s great to see these characters given new lines and a renewed freshness, rather than simply trotting out the same old lines we have come to expect.
And the three-course meal isn’t bad, although one “fussy” diner on my table couldn’t stomach the vegetarian concoction she was served.
As Basil put it: “Well, you should have ordered the chicken then, shouldn’t you!”
A solid two hours of non-stop madness that will leave you crying with laughter and begging for another serving.
Tom Bowden