Faulty Towers The Dining Experience

Alison Pollard-Mansergh as Sybil & Leigh Kelly as Manuel. Photo courtesy of Starvox Entertainment.

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience is a deliberately dated homage to the hit British TV series Fawlty Towers (1975-1979) written by John Cleese and Connie Booth. Set in a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay on the "English Riviera," the farcical plot follows the uptight, rude and put-upon owner Basil Fawlty (Cleese) and his bossy wife Sybil (Prunella Scales) as they attempt to run the hotel in a most disastrous fashion.

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience (first performed in Australia in 1997) made its international debut in 2008 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before taking up residence in London's West End in 2012. Now playing at Toronto's Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, this jolly show invites audiences to step back in time and become diners in the hotel restaurant, where we are served a 70s-style three-course meal by none other than Basil (Benedict Holme), Sybil (Alison Pollard-Mansergh) and the confused Spanish waiter, Manuel (Leigh Kelly).

All three cast members are fully committed to their parts: Holme has perfected the dry, sarcastic wit and begrudging smile that Cleese's Basil made famous, Pollard-Mansergh is entertaining and charming as the shrill Sybil, and Kelly is hilarious as the endearingly useless Manuel. Only one third of the event is scripted so theatregoers can expect the unexpected as the performers ad-lib their way through dinner service, dishing up plenty of laughs in the process.

Fawlty fans will catch references to actual episodes from the TV series, including the final epsiode of the second series "Basil the Rat." However, those who aren't as familar with the content may find the innuendo and antics hard to swallow as this production involves more slapstick than story. It is often hard to see and hear what is happening depending on where you are seated, so be sure to dine with a group, or start up a conversation with a fellow guest.

The meal itself is sufficient. Diners are given the choice of chicken or vegetarian (includes bread, soup, coffee and dessert). And of course there is plenty of wine available should you feel like indulging!

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience runs until April 19 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. Visit sonycentre.ca for more information and to buy tickets.