Swallow between guffaws

Just when you think the Bangkok restaurant scene is as rich and diverse as could be, Interactive Theatre International proves that a little laughter can make your dining experience even more special. For the first time, the troupe brings its renowned show “Faulty Towers the Dining Experience” to Bangkok. Its laugh-out-loud debut performance is on Wednesday at the Italian restaurant Brio of Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa.

First broadcast in 1975, “Fawlty Towers” took its name from that of a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay on “the English Riviera”. The episodes centred on tense, rude and put-upon manager Basil Fawlty (portrayed by John Cleese of “Monty Python” fame), his bossy wife Sybil (Prunella Scales) and the hapless Spanish waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs).

In a list drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, “Fawlty Towers” was named best British television series of all time.

Now, imagine yourself in the dining room of Fawlty Towers where, as you enjoy a sumptuous meal, things are going haywire – yet, fortunately, seriously funny. 

Basil the restaurant manager (here played by Rob Langston), Sybil (Karen Hamilton) and Manuel (Andy Foreman) all greet you and seat you at a table. This not the kind of the show, though, where the performers deliver gags and make jokes while you watch. In this case the whole performance is integrated smoothly into dinner and the restaurant’s actual staff. 

There are some inside jokes from the TV series, but even if you’re not familiar with it, you can still have a good time. Most of the fun comes courtesy of Manuel the waiter, whose command of English is poor so that he often takes Basil’s orders too literally. Meanwhile Basil’s screeching wife rips into him for being incompetent – and for hiring Manuel in the first place. 

The gags are not particularly innovative or witty, but instead simple and straightforward – yet subtle and fresh. Everyone can understand them. The show has the right proportion of physical and verbal jokes, and the actors’ perfect timing makes simple gags welcome and unexpected throughout the show.

The troupe, with its understated comedic talents, shows that you don’t need dirty jokes or vulgar remarks to be hilarious. Thus, the show is suitable for everyone in the family. 

“Faulty Towers the Dining Experience” has been performed in restaurants around the world since 1997. Receiving huge critical and public praise, it has been a constant sell-out ever since it debuted at the Edinburgh Festival in 2008.

 

 

Fish is off

 

Experience “Faulty Towers the Dining Experience” until Monday at Brio of Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa.

Tickets including a three-course dinner cost Bt3,700. Call (02) 476 0022, extension 1416, or e-mail [email protected].

Learn more about the show at www.FaultyTowers.net.