Don’t Mention The War

Coral Drouyn explores how Fawlty Towers the ‘best comedy of all time’ will translate to the stage.

With a new stage version of the show touring Australia, it seems impossible that it’s almost 41 years since Fawlty Towers first hit TV screens in England in 1975. Only commissioned for six episodes, while it didn’t initially catch on with the public, by the end of the series the critics were warming to it. Episode six spawned the phrase “Don’t mention the War”, when Germans came to stay at the hotel. Who could forget the argument which resulted in the German guest saying, “Ve didn’t start it”, with Basil responding, “Yes you did…you invaded Poland!”? It was and remains hysterically politically incorrect.

The show almost never made it to air, because it didn’t have “jokes” as such, and the BBC couldn’t imagine who would want to see it. The plots were silly and mostly could be summed up in a couple of lines. But the truth was, no-one had ever seen mesmerising characters like Basil and Sybil and the hapless Manuel on their television screens before.

Despite good reviews it was almost four years before the BBC commissioned a second series, largely because of Connie Booth’s reluctance to be involved. So, 12 episodes in all, and yet they spawned some of the funniest comedy ever to come out of Britain. They have been repeated literally dozens of times since then, winning BAFTAS for best comedy for both series (with John Cleese winning a BAFTA for best comedy performance), and being named the best comedy of all time in the year 2000 by industry professionals. The show was sold to 45 stations in 17 countries in the two years following the first season. The Americans tried four times to create an American version but it just didn’t work. Basil and Sybil are quintessentially British.

Sadly, it also spawned a heap of rip-offs by impostors outside of television land; none of them sanctioned by John Cleese. Restaurants called themselves Fawlty’s or some other plagiarised simile and featured terrible service and slapstick comedy. Some made money, some only came out to play at Festival time, some died a mercifully quick death and disappeared into the mists of Bad Comedy Hades - but some exist to this very day.

This is where the war of the title comes in. John Cleese, as writer, is – rightly so – not amused at his talent being usurped. He’s even less amused that dozens of Basil impersonators have built whole careers by doing bad impressions of him. Cleese is now considering legal action against the wannabes.  But, before that comes the official, authorised stage show. The wonder is that it took 40 years to arrive - with a limited setting and a small cast of characters, one might ask the clever Mister Cleese “What took you so long?”

Finally, the authorised version, adapted by Cleese himself, is set to grace our stages. Never mind that the creator has said that the play will open here because then he can work on it before considering the UK or the US, the fact is we get to see it first. Cleese himself chose his Basil and Sybil, ant the choices of the uber-talented Stephen Hall as Basil, with award winning actress Blazey Best as Sybil, could not be questioned by even the strongest fans of the show.

Hall is best known for playing Bert Newton in the mini-series The King and he is currently both a writer and performer on the ABC’s Mad as Hell, where he deliciously melds Arnold Schwarzenegger with Finance Minister Mathias Corman. Hall insists that his Basil will not be just a poor replica of Cleese.

“I am not going to try to be John Cleese,” he says, “but obviously, since I will hopefully inhabit the character of Basil, there will be similarities, even crossover points - the physicality is very important.”

Blazey Best, who won the Sydney Theatre Award in January as “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” for Ivanov, has a similar viewpoint.

“Sybil is Sybil – and Prunella Scales has defined who she is. I’m not going to try to copy her, but her performance is as much a part of the script as the text. I’m giving my interpretation of Sybil, but you are bound to recognise Prunella Scales.”

Both have been fans of Fawlty Towers since childhood.

“I was a Python fan from about the age of eight,” Stephen tells me. “ I was around 11 or 12 when Basil and company hit Australian screens and I can honestly say there were times I fell off the couch laughing, and yes, it had an impact on my career even at that young age - I wanted to write things that made people laugh, and play characters like Basil.”

So was John Cleese one of Stephen’s idols when he was growing up?

“Of course,” he says, “but I never in a million years thought I would meet Mister Cleese and play his most iconic character. Those are big shoes to fill, and I mean that literally.”

Blazey was just as impressed when Fawlty Towers came into her orbit.

“I was only about 7 or 8 when I first took an interest in the show – and that was because my parents watched it. Now I can intellectualise it and see the nods to all forms of comedy - Commedia del arte; farce; even slapstick, as well as the deeper themes of dysfunction, co-dependence, intolerance and even emotional and physical abuse - poor Manuel.

“But as a child all I saw was the physical, slapstick, side of it - these funny people strutting around doing silly things. That’s the beauty of the show. It works on so many different levels. Even if you didn’t speak any English you would still find it hysterical. It’s timeless.”

This first-time-ever stage production will be taken from the original scripts, and everyone has favourite episodes. For many, Basil The Rat is a favourite, but getting a rat to rehearse just wasn’t on the cards. Stephen is confident, however, that everyone’s favourite will be covered in some way.

“My own favourite is Communication Problems,” he says, “Crotchety Mrs Richards, not hearing anything said, and refusing to turn on her hearing aid because it will waste the battery.” He chuckles even as he’s telling me. “I was just thrilled to find that it was being used.”

The other two episodes are The Germans, complete with Moose head, and that famous quote “Don’t mention the war”, which many comedy aficionados believe to be the funniest single episode of comedy ever written. Completing the triad will be the infamous Hotel Inspectors. Hall, himself a writer, is thrilled with the stage script.

“It’s the key strength of the production, and these episodes have been beautifully re-worked by Mister Cleese. We’re still very much in the seventies, and we’re very conscious that there is an expectation from the audience to see what they know and love, but we have to make it fresh,” Stephen explains.

So why should people who know and love the series make a trek to the theatre? Blazey sums it up.

“It’s the spontaneity of live theatre, the interaction of characters and the spontaneous part the audience plays - almost like another character. No two performances on stage  are ever the same. We have a duty of care to what people know and love,” Blazey explains. “But I can say this. You may think you’ve seen Fawlty Towers – but you’ve never seen it like this.”

Originally published in the July / August 2016 edition of Stage Whispers.

Photographer: James Morgan.