John Cleese, well-known for his candid comments, made a playful jibe at the theatre cast of ‘Fawlty Towers The Play’ after observing their first rehearsal. He assured fans that the play would be excellent but cheekily advised them to plan their visit “in June”.
By then, he joked, the audience’s laughter rhythm would have been mastered and the new Basil Fawlty would have overcome his nerves to perfectly portray the iconic character.
Notably, Cleese had attended the final rehearsals of the dramatic adaptation of the classic sitcom today, giving members of the press an exclusive peek at two scenes ahead of next week’s preview performances.
Keeping true to his outspoken nature, Cleese cleaverly observed: “I thought that was awfully good, that is the first time they have done it in front of an audience and the problem with comedy is the laughter. Comedy is all about timing and what these guys have to work on is where the audience laugh, is there a small laugh, a medium sized laugh or a big one, the audience almost becomes part of what is going on on stage.
It is important to have lots of performances before an opening night. The previews start on Saturday and it is going to be a very sharp learning curve because you just have to take the performance to the audience.”
He further voiced his optimism by adding, “I think it is going to be tremendous, but I think it is going to be tremendous in June. In June people will have figured out where the laughter is and know exactly how to play the thing. When you have got a comedy or a farce, the audience becomes part of it. You have got to do it a lot to get the timing right.”, reports the Mirror.
The stage production will be a two-hour rendition of three of Cleese’s favourite TV episodes that he penned with Connie Booth; The Hotel Inspector and The Germans from series one, and Communication Problems from series two.
Adam Jackson-Smith, who steps into the role of Basil, said: “John really wasn’t precious which was quite surprising and lovely. Obviously we all have Basil Fawlty in our minds but I am an actor and not an impersonator. We have tried to come from a place of truth and who the guy is and what makes him tick and approach it in this way. It is the old adage of working from the inside out. It has been a pleasure. It is a brilliant thing to be part of.”
However, when asked about Adam taking over the iconic role, Cleese responded: “It just seems very natural. People ask me how I feel about someone else playing him [Basil] and I say ‘well I wrote it’. I had a way of playing it and there are certain rhythms you have to use because this line would have to have this rhythm, but apart from that I want him(Adam) to make it more and more his part which will happen the more you relax. Because one of the problems at the moment is you have so much to remember in this show, not just lines, the business.”
“And that means you are going to start off a bit anxious. That will hype your performance up a fraction and as you do it more and more there will be a point you relax.”
