FAULTY TOWERS THE DINING EXPERIENCE
Basil, Sybil and Manuel serve up a three-course meal – complete with lashings of chaos and mayhem. Sure, you won’t get views of strolling wildebeest but you do get the Sydney Opera House.
Touring worldwide for the past 15 years and with a residency in London’s West End, Faulty Towers The Dining Experience arrives at the Sydney Opera House – bringing one icon to another. Fully immersive and interactive, the fourth wall is removed allowing Basil, Sybil and Manuel to bounce off the audience – almost literally – as they dine.
Only partially scripted, the antics can lead anywhere depending on where the actors and diners decide to take it. The laughter begins as guests wait to be seated and doesn’t let up until the cheese platters are cleared away – hopefully without any ‘Siberian hamsters’.
Affectionately inspired by the John Cleese BBC series from the mid-seventies, the original scripts aren’t used, hence the ‘faulty’ spelling. Artistic director Alison Pollard says, “I didn’t want people to think they were getting the original so I spelt it differently.”
The Sydney cast features Paul O’Neil (Basil), Karen Hamilton (Sybil) and co-creator Andy Foreman (Manuel).
Stay away from the Waldorf salad and definitely don’t mention the war. (GW)
Sep 24-29, Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, $139-189, 9250 7777, sydneyoperahouse.com.au
