well, yes. this is yet another tale of adventure from that there London (innit), look you see. only this one might be of vague interest to a few people. hence the more specific title, rather than some abstract concept which relates to it all. but, for those looking for information on Fawlty Towers The Play then there is the "optimised" search term in the first paragraph.
i haven't, i suppose, taken all that much of an advantage of being down in London (innit) so frequently. but also that's not quite true. often, for instance, i find myself propping up (financially) some of the music shops there. the quality ones at least. and there's been the odd cinema trip. yet i had not gone to too much in the way of the theatre or a show. on deciding to address this i was as delighted as i was surprised to find that going to see the previously mentioned Fawlty Towers play was not only possible but remarkably affordable. bearing in mind of course what one considers affordable another may well not.
part of my problem with planning anything to do in London is the nature of my verk means it's rare i know for certain i will be in the area all that far in advance. well, at least, no, i am not always somewhere that one can easily access their vast public transport network. when i did have a couple of weeks notice of an exact place i went and took to "the internet" to see what shows i could grab a last minute ticket for. to my surprise i found that i could get one for what's likely the "hottest" or most in demand show going at the moment, which of course is (was) Fawlty Towers.
going on what the website for the Apollo Theatre (Shaftesbury Avenue one) said, they generally have a few "stray" tickets for sale every week. these are no doubt odd seats here and there, where other guests have bought groupings together. one (1) solitary seat on its own is absolutely perfect for someone like me, destined to be forever in the exiled, isolated alone life i apparently want or at the least acted like i was begging for. well, that's what i am told. moving on, it was with sheer delight that i could purchase an aisle ticket which was obviously legit (from the theatre direct) for £20.
no idea what the standard price for the ticket would be, but £20 sounded quite (as in most) agreeable for a supposedly long since sold out new show. granted, yes, it was a seat at the back, as you should be able to see below. to be fair there was on offer a front row ticket for £50. quite tempting, but it was to the far side and warned of a restricted view. the one i bought did not say it had a restricted view, which proved to be mostly correct.
quite a bit up, then. not sure if that is what they mean by "up in the gods" or if that's a reference to the posh box seats. unfortunately i am an english literature student and not a homosexual, so i couldn't really deal in theatre terminology fluently. that said i did indeed once have some rocket on a sandwich, so who knows. yes, by the way, an actual (sort of, by my standards) review of the play will crop up here eventually, but i thought general theatre in London information might be of interest. one does hear all sorts of horror stories about costs.
that i am not much of a drinker means that usually i would not be able to offer much in the way of telling you how much drinks cost at the theatre. or at the least the one i went to. oddly i can in this instance, as for some reason a gentleman stood next to me at the urinals struck up a conversation. he spoke of his plight, which was that two gin and tonics and three cokes cost him somewhere over £40, or if you like north of twice as much as my ticket cost me. oh. well, i just had a (small) orange juice, the price of which was slightly south of £3. right. being fair, they do have jugs of iced tap water available gratis. unless those costs are in your budget, would consider going for a drink or two somewhere else, but then again the pubs in London (innit) probably charge a reasonably similar price.
merch, as in merchandise, is "the thing" these days, i believe. i had some whim or notional hope to get something along the lines of a mug or pen, with the former very much being available the last time i went to a play proper, which would have been Phantom Of The Opera with my now of course former but of the time (considerably) better half. no such items were on sale that i could see, but was happy enough to find they had a very good quality programme. or brochure if that's the proper posh term. i had a suspicion or guess that such would cost £10. as point of fact it was £5, which was rather more agreeable than my expectations. very high quality it is, too.
but what of the play, Fawlty Towers, itself? nothing short of spectacularly brilliant. i thought it may fall flat as surely there was no way at all they could find an actor and an actress (or actors if that is now the right way to say it) capable of taking on the roles of Basil and Sybil in the sheer face of just how iconic the originals from the television show are. well, got that wrong. the two ostensible leads are absolutely perfect. just about all of the cast are, really. for the rest, well, if i have one complaint about it all then it's the actor playing Manuel just doesn't feel right, vocally or physically. he does just fine, but distracts you from the convincing illusion that you are watching the real thing.
plot? i suspect no spoiler warning is needed. wisely the wise John Cleese has brought together three episodes which can both interlace into one story and easily be carried out within the limitations of the stage and set design. the three episodes are The Hotel Inspector, The Germans and Communication Problems. and the odd bit from other episodes, notably Basil The Rat or whatever it was called. it all gets set up wonderfully in the first act, and the second act is so familiar yet so hilarious it feels like the hour or so of it flies by in about ten (10) minutes. cannot honestly recall the last time i laughed so long and hard for that much time, to be honest.
if you are wondering whether it is worth it, the effort, to go and see Fawlty Towers, i can very happily confirm for you the answer is yes. well, at least if you are a fan of the tv show. part of me wonders what someone who had never seen the original would make of it all. maybe one of them millennial or whatever types - them born after a time at which a Beatles reunion was impossible - has written a review of it quite different to mine. it is entirely possible with more better writing.
rather likely that the selfie of me (moi) above was entirely unnecessary, but hey, my blog, and i just felt oddly it was the thing to do, taking an "i was there" picture. oh, no, you are not allowed to have your phone on in the theatre, and no less a voice than John Cleese at the start warns you that you do not have any permission at all to take images of the cast. so, i did not. would have been a silly thing to get thrown out for, especially considering the (poor) quality of videos from gigs.
should it be so that you have a general, or specific, interest in things Fawlty Towers, then you might quite like some posts what i have gone done on the infamous myth (or urban legend) of a thirteenth episode existing. if that's the case, then here's one thing i wrote concerning the subject, and then for good measure here's another one. the idea of a "hidden" episode has always fascinated me, even if i have come to accept (should you have no interest in reading them) that it's exceptionally unlikely it ever existed. still, who doesn't like a good theory?
unlikely as it may be to be so i do, all the same, hope that some of the information tucked away in here has been of interest if not practical use. above all, many thanks for reading!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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