From Twitter
@Cardiff's: V much enjoyed my evening chez #fawltytowers @everymanfest. Even better than the originals!
@DerekTheWeather: In Peterston Super Ely watching Fawlty Towers on stage. It's well funny :)
@HDDJones: Congrats to Everyman Theatre on an outstanding show at St Fagan's this evening. 3 episodes of Fawlty Towers wonderfully portrayed on stage!
@benjosephsmith: Fawlty Towers was hilarious! They had a lot to live up to, and they NAILED it!
@heyits_amy
just got in. saw fawlty towers performed by @everymancdf brilliant. highlight was certainly basil fawlty. only cleese could do it better!
just got in. saw fawlty towers performed by @everymancdf brilliant. highlight was certainly basil fawlty. only cleese could do it better!
@RLBLUEBIRD28
@everymanfest Really enjoyed #fawltytowers on Tue night. Waldorf Salad was better than the real thing!
@everymanfest Really enjoyed #fawltytowers on Tue night. Waldorf Salad was better than the real thing!
@needledesign
Just got back from a fantastic night at St Fagans as part of the@everymancdf festival they put on a brilliant performance of#fawltytowers
Just got back from a fantastic night at St Fagans as part of the@everymancdf festival they put on a brilliant performance of#fawltytowers
From The Press
St Fagans National History Museum is home to the Everyman Open Air Festival throughout July and August. Here, yourCardiff guest blogger Amy Smith reviews this weekend’s performance of Fawlty Towers, and recommends you snap up tickets for the festival’s remaining shows.
On Saturday night I went to see the final production of Fawlty Towers, presented by Mr Moose as part of the Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival.
This particular production ran from July 3-7, clocking up a total of six performances in that time with the stage set at St Fagans National History Museum.
We were greeted by two characters at the door, Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby, who fans of the TV show will know, who complained about the weather, but welcomed us warmly.
Most of the audience was comprised of fans of the television show, where Basil Fawlty was made famous by John Cleese and the rest of the cast were familiar: these were big boots to fill.
The cast re-enacted three of the series’ memorable episodes – Waldorf Salad and Communication Problems from series two, and Hotel Inspectors from series one.
Michael Morgan, who played Basil Fawlty, did an extraordinary job in his role. His mannerisms, even his facial expressions, were spot on, and he assumed the look of Basil Fawlty so easily too.
At the end of the interval he and his wife Sybil Fawlty were on stage as the audience filed back in, and the improvised reaction to the audience was wonderful; he was so naturally Basil.
The supporting cast was fantastic too. The weather held off for them for the first act, and the audience was even lucky enough to have a dry interval, but the heavens opened for the second act. The audience sat in a marquee, so we stayed dry, but the cast were not so fortunate. In saying that though, you would not have known from the performance.
The only disappointment is that I can’t urge you to see the production for yourselves. However, the Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival is running until the August 4 and is yet to see productions of The Mikado and Twelfth Night and Pinocchio.
If this production is an indication as to the level of quality, I urge you to get your tickets now!
Details of the Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival can be found on the festival website.
On Saturday night I went to see the final production of Fawlty Towers, presented by Mr Moose as part of the Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival.
This particular production ran from July 3-7, clocking up a total of six performances in that time with the stage set at St Fagans National History Museum.
We were greeted by two characters at the door, Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby, who fans of the TV show will know, who complained about the weather, but welcomed us warmly.
Most of the audience was comprised of fans of the television show, where Basil Fawlty was made famous by John Cleese and the rest of the cast were familiar: these were big boots to fill.
The cast re-enacted three of the series’ memorable episodes – Waldorf Salad and Communication Problems from series two, and Hotel Inspectors from series one.
Michael Morgan, who played Basil Fawlty, did an extraordinary job in his role. His mannerisms, even his facial expressions, were spot on, and he assumed the look of Basil Fawlty so easily too.
At the end of the interval he and his wife Sybil Fawlty were on stage as the audience filed back in, and the improvised reaction to the audience was wonderful; he was so naturally Basil.
The supporting cast was fantastic too. The weather held off for them for the first act, and the audience was even lucky enough to have a dry interval, but the heavens opened for the second act. The audience sat in a marquee, so we stayed dry, but the cast were not so fortunate. In saying that though, you would not have known from the performance.
The only disappointment is that I can’t urge you to see the production for yourselves. However, the Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival is running until the August 4 and is yet to see productions of The Mikado and Twelfth Night and Pinocchio.
If this production is an indication as to the level of quality, I urge you to get your tickets now!
Details of the Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival can be found on the festival website.
Wales on Line Preview
Classic British comedy Fawlty Towers is being resurrected as part of the Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival. Dave Owens meets Michael Morgan, the man tasked with portraying one of the greatest comedy characters of all time – Basil Fawlty
SYBIL! Sybil!” Readers of a certain age will attest to the genius of John Cleese’s hilarious and highly-strung portrayal of hotelier Basil Fawlty – a man perpetually teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown in the classic ’70s BBC comedy, set in a dilapidated Torquay hotel.
High farce, bewilderment and befuddlement aplenty will be the order of the day when the Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival launches in the leafy and historical surrounds of St Fagans this week with faithful re-enactments of three of the original Fawlty Towers episodes.
To give the production that authentic effect, the couple who play the warring Basil and Sybil, are a real life Mr and Mrs.
For Michael and Claire Morgan it’s not the first time they’ve played a couple at loggerheads on stage – in fact, a spat under the spotlights is what brought them together some 20 years ago.
“We met in Everyman’s production of Much Ado About Nothing in 1992,” recalls Michael Morgan, aka Basil Fawlty. “I was Benedict and she was Beatrice. Funnily enough, we’re often cast as sparring couples. So it’s a case of life imitating art!
“Claire is a drama teacher at Llandaff Cathedral School,” adds Michael, who by day works as a solicitor. “She’s got quite a history with Everyman. She was our Lady Macbeth, Portia in Merchant Of Venice, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and now she’s a pretty good Sybil, although I wouldn’t say that to her face, of course!
“She’s got the characterisation spot on.
“We’ve been married for 16 years, which is a year longer than the Fawltys were married,” he informs me.
The inspiration for this take on Fawlty Towers came about when Michael – who has been a member of Everyman since 1988 – played a rather tetchy Major General in Pirates of Penzance at last year’s Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival.
“Richard Tunley, who was the director of Pirates, thought that the Major General in the production could be played as Basil Fawlty so that’s what I did,” says the actor. “So last year we had the Major General bashing a car with a branch (recalling one of the most famous scenes from Fawlty Towers) and that went down well.
“Everybody involved has great affection for the series. As a lot of people do. It’s a classic.”
Bonds run deep throughout Everyman between people who have acted together for years and, as a result, have become firm friends.
Although the combustible relationship between Basil and Spanish waiter Manuel will see one such relationship put under considerable strain – as Michael gets to manhandle his old mate Peter Harding Roberts who plays Manuel.
“We’ve been mates for a long time,” explains the 54-year-old. “He’s this year’s Festival chairman. He’s ideal for the part. He’s the right size, suitably manic, he’s a very accomplished actor and he doesn’t mind being hit over the head!
“I get to slap him a couple of times and I hit him with a spoon. I don’t actually get to throw him around much,” adds Michael, with an air of disappointment in his voice. “But he does get attacked.
“He’s fine about it and he’s quite happy to be hit with a spoon. He throws himself into the part. He’s quite a senior criminal barrister in Cardiff, so he’s used to a bit of aggression! He’s been involved with Everyman longer than I have. He lives and breathes Everyman. Having said that, it’s worth noting that this production is technically separate from Everyman.
“It’s being staged by a little company that we’ve created called Mr Moose Presents. It’s simply a device to put the show on the stage. None of us are profit making. Anything we make from the production we are donating to the George Thomas Hospice.”
It’s clear that all the cast are big fans of the show – Michael in particular.
“I think the first episode was broadcast in 1975 when I was 17,” he recalls. “It was fresh on television then and it was wonderful. Everybody is used to seeing it now, but seeing it for the first time it was so incredibly funny. My generation were brought up with Monty Python and The Goodies and all that stuff when it was new. Each of the Fawlty Tower episodes is a perfectly written little farce.
“That’s why we can’t wait to perform it at St Fagans,” he adds. “The atmosphere in that open-air theatre is quite tremendous if you’ve got a full stand. Being there with a live audience is something we love.
“What we’re not looking forward to is any rainy weather. I’m busy tweeting Derek The Weatherman and Behnaz Akhgarand to see what they can do,” he laughs.
“Although that said, it’s worth stressing that although it’s in the open air, the crowd are fully covered in a grandstand at all times. They don’t get wet at all.
“Some people might be put off booking because it’s in the open air, but please don’t be!”
Fawlty Towers runs from Tuesday, July 3, to Saturday, July 7. Performances start at 8pm, with a matinee performance on Saturday at 3.30pm. Tickets cost from £13 to £15 depending on date and time of performance. Tickets can be booked on 08448 700 887 or via www.everymanfestival.co.uk.
SYBIL! Sybil!” Readers of a certain age will attest to the genius of John Cleese’s hilarious and highly-strung portrayal of hotelier Basil Fawlty – a man perpetually teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown in the classic ’70s BBC comedy, set in a dilapidated Torquay hotel.
High farce, bewilderment and befuddlement aplenty will be the order of the day when the Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival launches in the leafy and historical surrounds of St Fagans this week with faithful re-enactments of three of the original Fawlty Towers episodes.
To give the production that authentic effect, the couple who play the warring Basil and Sybil, are a real life Mr and Mrs.
For Michael and Claire Morgan it’s not the first time they’ve played a couple at loggerheads on stage – in fact, a spat under the spotlights is what brought them together some 20 years ago.
“We met in Everyman’s production of Much Ado About Nothing in 1992,” recalls Michael Morgan, aka Basil Fawlty. “I was Benedict and she was Beatrice. Funnily enough, we’re often cast as sparring couples. So it’s a case of life imitating art!
“Claire is a drama teacher at Llandaff Cathedral School,” adds Michael, who by day works as a solicitor. “She’s got quite a history with Everyman. She was our Lady Macbeth, Portia in Merchant Of Venice, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and now she’s a pretty good Sybil, although I wouldn’t say that to her face, of course!
“She’s got the characterisation spot on.
“We’ve been married for 16 years, which is a year longer than the Fawltys were married,” he informs me.
The inspiration for this take on Fawlty Towers came about when Michael – who has been a member of Everyman since 1988 – played a rather tetchy Major General in Pirates of Penzance at last year’s Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival.
“Richard Tunley, who was the director of Pirates, thought that the Major General in the production could be played as Basil Fawlty so that’s what I did,” says the actor. “So last year we had the Major General bashing a car with a branch (recalling one of the most famous scenes from Fawlty Towers) and that went down well.
“Everybody involved has great affection for the series. As a lot of people do. It’s a classic.”
Bonds run deep throughout Everyman between people who have acted together for years and, as a result, have become firm friends.
Although the combustible relationship between Basil and Spanish waiter Manuel will see one such relationship put under considerable strain – as Michael gets to manhandle his old mate Peter Harding Roberts who plays Manuel.
“We’ve been mates for a long time,” explains the 54-year-old. “He’s this year’s Festival chairman. He’s ideal for the part. He’s the right size, suitably manic, he’s a very accomplished actor and he doesn’t mind being hit over the head!
“I get to slap him a couple of times and I hit him with a spoon. I don’t actually get to throw him around much,” adds Michael, with an air of disappointment in his voice. “But he does get attacked.
“He’s fine about it and he’s quite happy to be hit with a spoon. He throws himself into the part. He’s quite a senior criminal barrister in Cardiff, so he’s used to a bit of aggression! He’s been involved with Everyman longer than I have. He lives and breathes Everyman. Having said that, it’s worth noting that this production is technically separate from Everyman.
“It’s being staged by a little company that we’ve created called Mr Moose Presents. It’s simply a device to put the show on the stage. None of us are profit making. Anything we make from the production we are donating to the George Thomas Hospice.”
It’s clear that all the cast are big fans of the show – Michael in particular.
“I think the first episode was broadcast in 1975 when I was 17,” he recalls. “It was fresh on television then and it was wonderful. Everybody is used to seeing it now, but seeing it for the first time it was so incredibly funny. My generation were brought up with Monty Python and The Goodies and all that stuff when it was new. Each of the Fawlty Tower episodes is a perfectly written little farce.
“That’s why we can’t wait to perform it at St Fagans,” he adds. “The atmosphere in that open-air theatre is quite tremendous if you’ve got a full stand. Being there with a live audience is something we love.
“What we’re not looking forward to is any rainy weather. I’m busy tweeting Derek The Weatherman and Behnaz Akhgarand to see what they can do,” he laughs.
“Although that said, it’s worth stressing that although it’s in the open air, the crowd are fully covered in a grandstand at all times. They don’t get wet at all.
“Some people might be put off booking because it’s in the open air, but please don’t be!”
Fawlty Towers runs from Tuesday, July 3, to Saturday, July 7. Performances start at 8pm, with a matinee performance on Saturday at 3.30pm. Tickets cost from £13 to £15 depending on date and time of performance. Tickets can be booked on 08448 700 887 or via www.everymanfestival.co.uk.
Extracts from Personal Letters
Before you saw it you wondered if it could be done, and if it could, how? A generation ago, John Cleese and Connie Booth crafted an item of sheer perfection , a comic series which had everything, farce, wit, sublime dialogue, satire, social snobbery, sex, and memorably eccentric characters. To recreate all that is an enormous challenge. Mr Moose and his company have pulled of an hilariously affectionately live recreation of a masterpiece
Just a brief note to say many congratulations on last evening's Fawlty Towers event. My group totally enjoyed everything. We had a fun time, thoroughly enjoyed the two episodes, were very satisfied with the catering and all felt it good value. There was consensus about the quality of the perfomers and how they captured perfectly the originals' characters."
It was a brave man who decided that outdoor theatre and British summer time would be a successful mix, but in this case, Cardiff City Council and the Everyman Theatre Company’s decision to set up a stage in Sophia Gardens for a month and offer customers a chance to enjoy ‘Guys and Dolls’ , Walt Disney’s ‘Alice in Wonderland Jr.’ , ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and (most importantly, as that was the show I went to) Fawlty Towers, in this beautiful setting as the sun wet down, was a truly inspired idea…perhaps with a little luck thrown in.
I saw the posters advertising the show’s dotted around Cardiff, I contacted my old housemate, who is also a massive Fawlty Towers fan and suggested we take in a the show. At £30 (including booking fees) for the 2 of us, it was most definitely money well spent.
The production was a 3 of the classic episodes back to back, “Gourmet Night”“The Psychiatrist” and“The Germans”, when I first saw their choice, I was concerned, I know these episodes inside and out, I found myself thinking, “There’s a car in that one! How are they going to pull that off?”
The answer is simple, very well indeed.
At first, I wasn’t 100% behind the cast as I found myself focussing fair too much on the subtle and all too familiar nuances that John Cleese, Andrew Sachs et all brought to the series, but within 10 minutes, I had warmed to the cast and their take on the characters. I reminded myself that I have seen 2 casts perform “The Woman in Black” and the film, each was different and enjoyable for different reasons. The same was true here. There is very little comparison between a TV show and a play, so I decided to sit back and laugh, a lot.
During the intermission, my friend and 2 others friends we had bumped into at the show joked,
“Its like watching an amazing cover band!“
As I am posting this prior to the completion of the run, I don’t want to give too much away about how they achieved certain iconic moments, but that is part of the fun. Seeing how certain scenes were brought to life on the stage, the casts excellent take on the characters and even the mandatory wobbly sets all made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
I would offer a word of warning, if you are the kind of person who complains about cinematic and television remakes of classic moments in entertainment, this might not be for you. I am at no point here belittling the production, but I know one too many nerds who spend hours complaining about Michael Bay’s desecration of The Transformers (I enjoyed the first movie), “how could they remake Total Recall?”…so, if this is you, perhaps give it a miss, as you might spend the evening saying, “He didn’t bring feet up high enough whilst he was goose stepping.”, “He didn’t hit Manuel hard enough”…and so forth.
However, if you like the idea of a much loved TV series being brought to life as stage show, then you should definitely check this out. It was a very brave move and most importantly, a rewarding one. I would love to see more productions like this on the stage, there are so many classic sitcoms that could be given a new life in this fashion.
Roll on the next run, if I can offer a suggestion, ‘Allo ‘Allo would be amazing!
Fawlty Towers is running until Sunday 21st July 2013, presented by Mr Moose Presents & Everyman Theatre
I saw the posters advertising the show’s dotted around Cardiff, I contacted my old housemate, who is also a massive Fawlty Towers fan and suggested we take in a the show. At £30 (including booking fees) for the 2 of us, it was most definitely money well spent.
The production was a 3 of the classic episodes back to back, “Gourmet Night”“The Psychiatrist” and“The Germans”, when I first saw their choice, I was concerned, I know these episodes inside and out, I found myself thinking, “There’s a car in that one! How are they going to pull that off?”
The answer is simple, very well indeed.
At first, I wasn’t 100% behind the cast as I found myself focussing fair too much on the subtle and all too familiar nuances that John Cleese, Andrew Sachs et all brought to the series, but within 10 minutes, I had warmed to the cast and their take on the characters. I reminded myself that I have seen 2 casts perform “The Woman in Black” and the film, each was different and enjoyable for different reasons. The same was true here. There is very little comparison between a TV show and a play, so I decided to sit back and laugh, a lot.
During the intermission, my friend and 2 others friends we had bumped into at the show joked,
“Its like watching an amazing cover band!“
As I am posting this prior to the completion of the run, I don’t want to give too much away about how they achieved certain iconic moments, but that is part of the fun. Seeing how certain scenes were brought to life on the stage, the casts excellent take on the characters and even the mandatory wobbly sets all made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
I would offer a word of warning, if you are the kind of person who complains about cinematic and television remakes of classic moments in entertainment, this might not be for you. I am at no point here belittling the production, but I know one too many nerds who spend hours complaining about Michael Bay’s desecration of The Transformers (I enjoyed the first movie), “how could they remake Total Recall?”…so, if this is you, perhaps give it a miss, as you might spend the evening saying, “He didn’t bring feet up high enough whilst he was goose stepping.”, “He didn’t hit Manuel hard enough”…and so forth.
However, if you like the idea of a much loved TV series being brought to life as stage show, then you should definitely check this out. It was a very brave move and most importantly, a rewarding one. I would love to see more productions like this on the stage, there are so many classic sitcoms that could be given a new life in this fashion.
Roll on the next run, if I can offer a suggestion, ‘Allo ‘Allo would be amazing!
Fawlty Towers is running until Sunday 21st July 2013, presented by Mr Moose Presents & Everyman Theatre
