Viv Hardwick risks the wrath of Basil and chats to Luke McGibney about playing the hotel tyrant

DON’T mention this to the Germans, but a certain dining experience forever linked to the genius of John Cleese is about to make a welcome return to brave restaurant-goers preparing for more sell-out Newcastle Theatre Royal entertainment next week.

With pantomime about to break out on the main stage, the venue is turning its upper circle into The Faulty Towers Dining Experience with Basil, Sybil and Manuel recreating the TV sitcom moments, which made Fawlty Towers one of the UK’s all-time favourite shows.

The actor in charge of bringing Basil’s tics and tantrums back to life is Luke McGibney, who says he spent a lot of time studying the infamous BBC character.

“It may sound a little insane, but I actually mimic what I see on TV and follow the body movements through an episode and then go round in a circle and slowly get into music memory how you hold your fingers together – something that he does – and the pointing and wrist-turning. You start from these little details and it may sound a little pretentious but you’re really trying to understand what he wants while working in scenes, but also when you’re with the audiences.

“You’re driving through what he does want, and this is to be with the aristocrats and the lords of the manor and he can’t be doing with having to run a hotel with these minions around him.”

McGibney knows Basil should accept who he is and set about helping his wife, “but that doesn’t quite happen”.

The action centres on a real three-course meal in this pop-up restaurant format as part of a two-hour show.

“Nothing is taken from the TV series and is verbatim. It suits the environment that we’re going into and I think when you’ve seen stage versions which follow the old scripts they don’t quite work because they need to be more farcical and the pace and energy has to be higher. I’ve seen a few versions where the cast are repeating the TV scripts and it looks too flat. So, this show is incredibly pacey and very traditional farce. It goes like lightning.”

The risky and popular format of Faulty Towers, which began life in Australia in 1997 before conquering the world from 1998 after five-star reviews at the Edinburgh Festival, relies mainly on the ad-libs of the three actors depending on the restaurant guests.

“The beginning part is the meet and greet and there is still comedy, but a lot is improvised and played off on whoever turns up. It could be someone aged 90 or a 20-year-old dressed inappropriately. The audience are getting to learn how to play at that point because the English aren’t used to doing this kind of thing and interacting with the cast. They need permission to be cheeky and talk back to us. Then we move into the dining area and there are some Keystone Cops moments before the story starts,” says McGibney.

The rehearsed comedy involves Basil getting himself into trouble gambling on the horses as the show works its way through food and fun both on and off the menu.

Faulty Towers is now entertaining 23 venues across the UK, but McGibney reassures nervous diners that the show are nothing like the “ill-fitting outfits and goodness knows what else you get in some places”.

“The beauty of this is that the actors come from classically-trained backgrounds such a Lamda and Rada. You can join in, but you can also sit back and don’t feel like you have to be in it. I feel passionately about this, because Faulty Towers is a five-star show every year at Edinburgh and that’s no mean feat,” he says.

McGibney is an award-winning Richard III in his other theatre career, which in some ways might bear comparison to Basil.

“Funny, you should say. Richard III brings his own world to an end and Basil is a bit like that. He obviously doesn’t slaughter people he doesn’t like, but given half the chance... Both of them want everything and have their cake and eat it,” he says,

The actor, one of several Basils going through their paces this year, is not aware that John Cleese has ever attended a dining experience himself . “I think it would be quite nerve-wracking. Everything he seems to do lately involves divorce settlements, so you never know,” McGibney jokes.

What puzzles him a little is the audience response to Basil.

“It doesn’t quite make sense that you’re being paid to be Basil, who is so rude to everyone and then gets a standing ovation at the end. Audiences do seem to like being abused. I’ve been Basil for about nine months and I now learnt the way of the Basiling as they call it in the team. It’s like a form of martial art where you start off as a yellow belt and eventually become the Master Basil,” he says.

His biggest challenge is the first few seconds when he has to win people over and convince them that he is Basil. “If you don’t you’ve lost them and this may sound silly, but you have to perfect the goose step he does which is pretty high. You end up doing the splits in training to make sure you can do it without injury. If you ripped a hamstring on a three-month tour you’re out of the game,” says McGibney, who pays tribute to his chemistry with Sybil (Laura Sheppard ) and Manuel (Andy Foreman).

And Basil and Co also manage to join in the dining side of the experience, leaving the actor to reflect: “It’s the best acting job in the world.”

  • Faulty Towers, the Dining Experience runs from Monday to Saturday. Tickets: £48.75. Box Office: 08448-112121 or theatreroyal.co.uk. Evenings 7pm, Matinees Thu and Sat 1pm.