Fawlty Towers The Play Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh 27th January 2026 Review
Fawlty Towers The Play is at the Playhouse theatre this week (until Sat 31 Jan) and if you are a fan of this iconic British Television comedy show then the chances are high that you will already have booked your ticked to see this stage production. Judging from how popular this stage show has proven to be on this tour, there is obviously a large market for what is essentially a nostalgia show.
The original television show, consisting of two series of six episodes each, was originally b roadcast on BBC Two in 1975 and 1979 and it has won many awards, been still popular enough for many re-screenings both in the UK and overseas, and has been regularly quoted as one of the greatest television comedies ever made. To some people, even the greatest!
This show really is one for the fans. John Cleese has adapted Fawlty Towers for the stage and visually, set and costume design by Liz Ascroft, has captured perfectly many of the main characters and hotel guests that we are familiar with from the television show. Setting all of this in its original time period, where a room cost £7.20 for a night, was without any doubt the right way to go here.
This principal cast - Danny Bayne (Basil), Mia Austen (Sybil), Hemi Yeroham (Manuel) and Joanne Clifton (Polly) - could have stepped right out of the original 1970s television programme, and the attention to detail of the original Fawlty Towers main set is impressive. Everyone mentioned here has captured their respective characters so well.
This attention to detail and wanting to re-create the television show is a huge plus for any fans of Fawlty Towers, but also essentially using the original script from a few old episodes and making them a two act stage production is where this show’s problems, for me, start to come to the surface.
There is little out there that dates more quickly than comedy, but as I mentioned earlier in this review, this is at its heart a nostalgia show, and this evening the age demographic of many of the people in this audience was that of those that would for a large part have seen this show first time around. Depending upon your personal point of view, this means that you either want your humour 1970s style as you remember it, or you will maybe review your thoughts on Fawlty Towers, and consider it a period comedy which is very much rooted in its original broadcast time period of the mid to late 1970s.
For myself, I found that this work with so much of the humour focused upon foreigners who were stupid because they did not understand or speak English, a deaf person who had her hearing aid turned off, and "don't mention the war" to belong firmly in a past period of what we once considered to be funny.
The audience as a whole seemed pretty split on this subject tonight, and many were clearly enjoying, judging by the laughter, all of these jokes, particularly when Basil goose-stepped across stage in full mockery of his German guests. This audience response, over 80 years now since the end of World War II, puzzled me. Have we not moved on at all in what is considered funny? All of this sadly for me overshadowed some inspired comedy lines, particularly between Basil and Sybil, and some fine comedy timing by everyone on stage tonight. This show missed an opportunity to be classic British farce on-stage.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
The original television show, consisting of two series of six episodes each, was originally b roadcast on BBC Two in 1975 and 1979 and it has won many awards, been still popular enough for many re-screenings both in the UK and overseas, and has been regularly quoted as one of the greatest television comedies ever made. To some people, even the greatest!
This show really is one for the fans. John Cleese has adapted Fawlty Towers for the stage and visually, set and costume design by Liz Ascroft, has captured perfectly many of the main characters and hotel guests that we are familiar with from the television show. Setting all of this in its original time period, where a room cost £7.20 for a night, was without any doubt the right way to go here.
This principal cast - Danny Bayne (Basil), Mia Austen (Sybil), Hemi Yeroham (Manuel) and Joanne Clifton (Polly) - could have stepped right out of the original 1970s television programme, and the attention to detail of the original Fawlty Towers main set is impressive. Everyone mentioned here has captured their respective characters so well.
This attention to detail and wanting to re-create the television show is a huge plus for any fans of Fawlty Towers, but also essentially using the original script from a few old episodes and making them a two act stage production is where this show’s problems, for me, start to come to the surface.
There is little out there that dates more quickly than comedy, but as I mentioned earlier in this review, this is at its heart a nostalgia show, and this evening the age demographic of many of the people in this audience was that of those that would for a large part have seen this show first time around. Depending upon your personal point of view, this means that you either want your humour 1970s style as you remember it, or you will maybe review your thoughts on Fawlty Towers, and consider it a period comedy which is very much rooted in its original broadcast time period of the mid to late 1970s.
For myself, I found that this work with so much of the humour focused upon foreigners who were stupid because they did not understand or speak English, a deaf person who had her hearing aid turned off, and "don't mention the war" to belong firmly in a past period of what we once considered to be funny.
The audience as a whole seemed pretty split on this subject tonight, and many were clearly enjoying, judging by the laughter, all of these jokes, particularly when Basil goose-stepped across stage in full mockery of his German guests. This audience response, over 80 years now since the end of World War II, puzzled me. Have we not moved on at all in what is considered funny? All of this sadly for me overshadowed some inspired comedy lines, particularly between Basil and Sybil, and some fine comedy timing by everyone on stage tonight. This show missed an opportunity to be classic British farce on-stage.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com