Faulty Towers The Dining Experience
You won’t get views of strolling wildebeest or ‘The Hanging Gardens of Babylon’, but you do get the Sydney Opera House – the perfect backdrop for Faulty Towers The Dining Experience. Basil, Sybil and Manuel return for another round of mayhem, serving up a three-course comedy that is likely to include Waldorf salad and perhaps even the occasional rat – or Siberian Hamster.
Inspired by the similarly named BBC series of the seventies, audience members are treated to a pop-up dining experience like no other. The laughter begins as patrons assemble for pre-dinner drinks and doesn’t let up until the last cheese platter is cleared away. In the meantime anything is possible, as the trio from Torquay inflict themselves on diners.
As the fourth wall is drawn away, Basil, Sybil and Manuel propel their audience through some strangely familiar scenarios in a completely interactive piece of theatre. Every performance is unique, as the partially scripted antics lead wherever the audience and cast want to take them.
From humble beginnings in Brisbane almost twenty years ago, ‘The Faulty Towers Dining Experience’ has grown and multiplied. The current tour takes in twenty countries, including a residency in London’s West End, as well as extended fringe seasons in Perth and Adelaide. Donna Gray (Sybil), Jordan Edmeades (Basil), and co-creator Andy Foreman (Manuel) make up the Sydney cast. (GW)
March 17–20 (Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm. Sun 12:30pm). Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney. $179-$195. Tickets & info: sydneyoperahouse.com.au or 02 9250 7777
