The Shatford Centre will be transformed into the hotel in the seaside town of Torquay on the English Riviera known as Fawlty Towers.
Pen High Arts Media Entertainment is hosting a candlelight dinner theatre weekend presenting the comedy Fawlty Towers Revisited.
“There is so much interaction right around the audience tables so they will feel like they are in the show, and in some instances they literally are in the show. It will be a lot of fun,” said Megan Rutherford, the Pen High drama arts instructor who is co-producing the show with Lori Grant.
Drawing from three episodes of the show, written by John Cleese and his then-wife Connie Booth, and adapting them into their own to run into one big plot line the Grade 11 and 12 acting class will bring the farce to the dinner theatre spotlight.
“This class has quite a bit of talent in it and I asked them if they would like to have fun with Fawlty Towers and they were adamant they wanted to do this project,” said Rutherford. “It is difficult for them because their generation doesn’t know Fawlty Towers so it was a very steep learning curve.”
Fawlty Towers centres around the tense, rude and put-upon owner Basil Fawlty, his bossy wife Sybil, a chambermaid named Polly and the hapless Spanish waiter Manuel. They attempt to run the hotel as eccentric guests demand the most ridiculous things.
“The audience will have so much fun. There are so many great lines with the whole crew from Fawlty Towers,” said Rutherford. “We have the guests playing the premise they are art critics and this will be a fine art showcase because senior artists have created a gallery which they have called Fawlty Portraits that will all be on display.”
Rutherford invites the audience to participate if they want by critiquing the art work and having a little fun with it.
“People are welcome to mingle and have fun. They won’t intimidate us. If they come up with words and dialogue of their own, the kids can handle them. Just remember you are going to get what you give,” said Rutherford.
The audience will also indulge on appetizers, a buffet and assorted desserts created by Chef Chris Garvey, the culinary arts instructor at Pen High.
Fawlty Towers Revisited runs on April 25 and 26 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Shatford Centre for the Arts.
Tickets are $40 and available only in advance by calling 250-488-0867. Cut off to order tickets is April 18.
