2009 Fringe Festival Reviews:
Sunday Mail (15 March 2009)
In short: Pitch perfect.
Staging a production of cult classic Fawlty Towers is a tall order but this cast filled it to imperfection - just the way fans like it.
Alison Pollard-Mansergh was at her deafening best as Sybil, Daley Donnelly was hilarious as language and common-sense-challenged Manuel, and Michael Davoren, who only went to his first rehearsal for the role of Basil two weeks ago, looks as though he's been playing him forever. Although the show and full dinner service only lasted two hours, it crammed in all of the best bits from the 12-episode series. Remember, this is an interactive show so you have to know how to give and take a joke but also when to shut up.
Whatever you do, don't mention the war.
Reviewer - Kate Mickan ****
Australian Stage Online (11 March 2009)
Don’t mention the war! And they didn’t, but they did lots of other Fawlty memorabilia, such as That Walk, some hamster/rat carry on, business with a fire extinguisher, and Manuel’s famous “I know nussing!” These, and a continuous flow of other very amusing and classic Fawlty Towers inspired episodes, both scripted and ad-libbed, peppered the evening, through a three course meal served by the cast and other cooperative hotel staff.
The action starts over pre-prandials in the bar, and then the audience is herded into the dining room with some scripted organisational chaos, involving distribution of bread, butter, salt and pepper and cutlery, and the scene and the anticipation is set for an unusual dining experience.
Interactive Theatre Australia, the brain child of Alison Pollard-Mansergh, who plays Sybil Faulty excellently, is adding a new dimension to theatre which challenges audience and actors alike. The audience is never sure what is coming next, neither do they know how much they can be part of the performance, yet sometimes have no choice, (e.g. when Manuel places himself rather than your napkin on your lap.)
The actors rose superbly to the challenge they set themselves - to take what comes, remain in character and ad-lib intelligently and humourously, interacting with unpredictable patrons in a way that they can be seen and heard in a dining room of some 80 – 100 people, and weaving their scripted bits into the whole.
Done as well as they did, this makes for a fine dining/theatrical experience for a large number of Fawlty aficionados who would be inclined to be critical if the actors didn’t get it right. But they did. Daley Donnelly as Manuel is convincingly and disarmingly naive, literal, dumb. Michael Davoren has taken to the role of Basil Faulty with great energy and imitative skill. His repartee was witty, and combined with his studied physical movement and classic interactions with Sybil and Manuel, evoked John Cleese very convincingly. Alison Pollard-Mansergh strutted authoritatively and equally convincingly through the role of Sybil Faulty, unfaultingly maintaining her character, attending to each diner and shrieking at Basil and Manuel in a way that would have made Prunella Scales proud.
While there is no complex set, lighting or props (a three course meal provides plenty of these!) there is negotiation and cooperation to be achieved with hotel management, who need to accommodate cast in the kitchen, and accept unorthodox dealings with their food, furniture and staff, to stage such an event. All this seems to have been achieved with aplomb.
After a chase around and under tables (Basil chasing Manuel chasing his hamster/rat), business with a betting ticket, and fumbling with a fire extinguisher, the whole escalates into a Fawlty shermozzle, and desert is served in relative calm.
A most enjoyable evening, and the food wasn’t bad either.
Reviewer - Peter Bleby
Buzzcuts (11 March 2009)
Not many theatre shows encourage you to talk through the performance, abuse and converse with the actors, all whilst eating a three course dinner. Faulty Towers the Dining Experience allows exactly this, becoming a feast for all the senses especially the stomach.
Interactive Theatre Australia gave birth to this show in 1997 and since then has been very well received performing many sold out shows throughout Australia, the South Pacific, South-East Asia and the United Kingdom. It truly is as interactive as you can get, set in an actual hotel (Old Adelaide Quality Hotel) and gives attendees the chance to experience a replica dining experience from the infamous Torquay hotel made known in the popular British television show, Fawlty Towers.
Even if you are one of the rare types unaware of John Cleese’s British comedy the jokes will not be lost on you and will still be very entertained. The characters, bumbling boss Basil Fawlty, his shrill and dominant wife Sybil and the hopeless but endearing Spanish waiter Manuel are so engaging and hilarious, the performance is easy to follow and engrossing for all. I was worried this would be one of those interactive performances where the actors aim to make the audience feel uncomfortable by asking intimate questions or spitting out insults, but this was not the case as the actors did involve the audience but made each situation very light and humorous so the audience felt willed to play along. Even the kids were absorbed in this two hour show as the action is so close and in your face.
The meals were competently cooked, but quite an achievement considering the near hundred diners packed into the room. The only problem is the serving scenes do tend to drag on due to this waiter to audience ratio, only the three actors served the dishes, and this can result in a few dull moments. However this does give the opportunity to chat to your dinner companions and discuss the performance together, as well as down a few glasses of wine!
This production is selling out fast and seriously not to be missed, enjoyable to all walks of life, utterly hilarious and superbly performed.
Reviewer - Eloise Basuki
Rip-it-up (11 March 2009)
The evening began with the audience being herded upstairs to dinner by a screaming Sybil, confused Basil and utterly clueless Manuel – a fantastic start to one of the funniest shows you’ll see at the Fringe. Sybil was shrewish, shrill and completely delightful as she spent the evening serving food while attempting to keep Basil and Manuel under control. As diners tucked into their three course meal, it wasn’t long before mayhem reigned via false fire alarm drills, missing dentures a la soup, wayward rats etc. The wonderfully bewildered Manuel was a walking disaster, while Basil managed to remain brilliantly rude whilst fawning over his guests. Skilfully performed, this is an experience not to be missed.
Reviewer - Rosie van Heerde
Arts Hub (10 March 2009)
Alison Pollard-Mansergh (Sybil Faulty), Daley Donnelly (Manuel) and Michael Davoren (Basil Faulty) make up the Interactive Theatre Australia troupe that put on the Faulty Towers Dining Experience for the 2009 Adelaide Fringe Festival at the excellent Quality Inn Hotel, North Adelaide, and what a great job they did!
As an avid Faulty Towers fan, I was concerned that this pleasant Sunday afternoon in Adelaide could be ruined by a try-hard group struggling to mimic the genius comedy that was the 12 Fawlty Towers television episodes. How wrong I was.
We were ushered into the lavish old style bar room of the Quality Inn Hotel where we enjoyed a quiet drink waiting to be escorted to the dining room for the pending show … or so I thought. That’s when all hell broke loose as a manic Basil Faulty careered through the room screaming to a confused Manuel that he needed to get buckets as the chef has fallen ill with a mild bout of food poisoning. It was a fabulous chaos from that moment.
Manuel was as baffled as ever by every instruction handed to him by Basil or Sybil, at one stage batting peanuts into the crowd like Pete Sampras after Sybil asked him to ‘serve’ them one at a time to everybody.
Once we were seated for lunch, the pandemonium continued as Basil, Sybil and Manuel served a delicious soup entrée and a beef or chicken main course. The two hour show incorporated most of the memorable subject lines of the television series with references including Manuel’s Hamster, the new German chief, the O’Rielly incident and a sneaky bet on the horses.
Close your eyes and you were listening to the original cast, their vocal take off, tones, phrases etc were absolutely dead right, especially Alison Pollard-Mansergh who had the Sybil laugh down pat. Michael Davoren was sensational as Basil and his mannerisms, accent and manic sprints to the kitchen were hysterical. The dazed but brilliant Manuel played by Daley Donnelly kept the pace going through the whole show as these actors worked frantically to bring the series to life around us.
I loved that much of this show was adlibbed around the people in the room whilst they managed to stick to the script. Don’t dare upset Basil by asking for more, or an extra roll, you might regret it. I mentioned to Manuel that there was no ‘pepper’ on our table and he rushed off to return with the local ‘paper’. Nothing was safe.
It was a terrific way to spend two hours, funny, mad, frenzied and at times hysterical and any Faulty Towers fan will be well and truly satisfied.
Reviewer - Kym McGuiness
Adelaide Advertiser (10 March 2009)
IF you're not a Faulty fan the matinee ticket prices might seem a bit rich because this ain't fine dining - fussy eaters are unlikely to be overly-impressed with the lunchtime fare.
But, then again, who is there for the food - this is all about interactive theatre.
Devotees of the classic Brit comedy will devour the ``soup with bite'', while frustrated actors will relish meeting booming Basil, sneering Sybil and their hapless language-challenged waiter Manuel...and his pet hamster/rat.
But a word of warning to Fringe fanatics who have been overindulging: Do not head to this show with a hangover because Alison Pollard-Mansergh has Sybil's shrill shriek down pat to spine-chilling perfection.
Plus you will need your wits about you to join in the fun.
Otherwise, you will be doing the impersonators who never once slip out of character a great disservice.
Reviewer - Anna Vlach ***
The Independent Weekly (10 March 2009)
Interactive Theatre Australia is a theatre group who challenge the traditional way audiences participate in the theatre. Recently returning from a successful tour of the UK, the troupe is back in Australia for a host of shows at this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Acted by three accomplished performers; Alison Pollard-Mansergh (Cybil Fawlty), Daley Donnelly (Manuel) and Michael Davoren (Basil Fawlty), the performance takes place in an actual hotel and involves the audience sitting down to a meal while the theatrics and absurdity of Fawlty Towers takes place around them. The actors playing the three characters escort the audience through to the dining area - where a three course meal is served - and play out a combination of classic Fawlty Tower scenes and improvised comedy sketches among the unsuspecting patrons.
At times one is unsure what is scripted and what is improvised but by the end of the performance I had a great admiration for the tight structure of the dining experience. The troupe is generally convincing as the characters and meshes the famous Fawlty Towers moments, into the scripted dining room setting, with wit and intelligence. Alison Pollard-Mansergh is superb as Cybil Fawlty, and it is her ability to host the dining experience in a manner worthy of Prunella Scales that is the highlight of the show.
Reviewer - Barlow Redfearn
Messenger Newspapers (9 March 2009)
SNOBBY, hopeless, slow, chaotic, arrogant.
These are the words that describe the Faulty Towers dinner show and its British sitcom characters.
The moment you step into the foyer of the Hotel, the chaos, fun and insults begin.
Whether it be your attire, the person you’re with or just simply because, no one is safe when you enter the realm of Basil and Sybil Fawlty and their language challenged waiter Manuel.
Interactive Theatre actors Alison Pollard-Mansergh as Sybil, Michael Davoren as Basil and Daley Donnelly as Manuel, are hilarious and very convincing, right down to the TV character’s mannerisms.
The hilarity continues when Basil tells Manuel to bet on a horse called ``Sapphire’’ and Manuel, quite perplexed, starts running around the room screaming ``it’s a fire! It’s a fire!’’ as he urges everyone to evacuate. It’s a laugh a minute.
Reviewer - Kasia Ozog *****
DB Magazine (25 March 2009)
If you're even considering going to this piece of dinner theatre, chances are that you're a fan of the 'Fawlty Towers' TV show. With this being the case, it's fair to say that you will enjoy yourself, as the three actors involved nail the mannerisms and look of their characters perfectly (Basil, Sybil and Manual - Polly Sherman doesn't appear) and recreate some of the more memorable comic mishaps from the series (as well as plenty of new ones) with aplomb. From the moment they usher all the guests up into the dining room, they never once break out of character and show considerable improvisational skills in dealing with hecklers and any mishaps that arise (and indeed, one is left wondering sometimes if they are intentional or merely very well-disguised).
There's rarely a moment when one of the three is not amongst the guests creating mayhem of some sort. Whether it be Daley Donnelly's Manuel inadvertently antagonising Basil (played by an over the top Michael Davoren) through misunderstandings or Allison Pollard-Mansergh's Sybil making chitchat with the guests and cutting through all the dinner conversation with her piercing laugh, there are more than enough amusing moments to make sure the performances are what you remember once the night is over.
Reviewer - Art Brakhage
Talk Fringe Website (Audience reviews throughout Festival)
Clipboard58 wrote:
Tues March 10th show. Had an absolutely fantastic time, lots and lots of laughter. So many funny moments, you never know where to look as just when you eating your fantastic meal you might find Basil hands on your shoulder or poor Manuel crawling under the table or Sybil with her ear piercing scream "Basil"
The meal was delicious - just watch the soup for those extra delicacies!!!
Don’t miss this show.
    
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