A scene from the famous 70s sitcom Fawlty Towers was enacted as a play by three actors at Taj Mahal Hotel. It was an interactive process where the audience got a chance to be a part of the performance. Neeti Nigam reports
There is a strong connection between food and entertainment. Be it watching television while nibbling or going for a gig/live musical performance at a restaurant, food and entertainment are indispensable. From elite restaurants to average ones, owners are breaking boundaries and coming up with innovative ideas to hook customers.
Following this trend, Taj Mahal hotels is hosting an interactive dinner show that is based on John Cleese’s legendary sitcom Fawlty Towers. This superhit comedy introduces guests to the world of Basil, played by Robert langston, his domineering wife Sybil (Karen Hamilton) and their hopelessly language-challenged waiter Manuel (Anthony Sottile). They make sure that each guest do not sit next to his/her friend. Then they take their orders and serve them.
The simple and specially crafted three-course Continental menu accompanied with beverages is served. In starters, there is hummus Beiruti/muhmarra/garlic yoghurt, pepper lavach/crudités and asparagus and toasted pine nut soup. The main course includes succulent country roast chicken, potato layonnaise and rosemary jus, delicious baked polenta, forest mushroom ragout and sautéed greens served with multigrain rolls. In the dessert section, there is classical French opera, fresh curved fruits with freshly brewed tea and coffee with petit fours.
Manuel misspells some orders, Basil comes and corrects it and makes fun of him. Basil asks Manuel to clean the table for the lady, Manuel is astonished and asks, “She wants the coffee for freeIJ” Sybil on the other hand is at her humorous best. She picks a bachelor from the audience and tries to fix him up with a girl who suits his sunsign, “She’s Taurus and therefore she can make all her decisions,” says Sybil.
The actors did a splendid job by making sure that each one in the audience is part of the play. Karen Hamilton who plays Sybil is superb. “The show has been going on for 17 years and I have been with them for 15 years. Though we have a script but two-third of it is improvised on the spot. So we keep ourselves alert and do a proper research about the city,” says Hamilton.
What makes this 70s show and the characters so appealing to the worldIJ “Its appeal is universal. Moreover people associate with the characters, especially Manuel who faces language issue in a foreign country,” says Anthony Sottile who plays Manuel. The special dinner theatre carries the singular distinction of being performed at both the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall (london). After Mumbai, it came to Delhi and is now in Chennai.
Divya Palat of Balancing Act Productions has brought the show in India. “When I saw their performance in london, I instantly signed them. I feel theatre in India is limited to the niche audience. We can’t keep complaining about it and therefore I brought them here to introduce this interactive art to an evolved audience. It is an experience,” says an enthusiastic Palat who finds pairing food with play is a form that is ahead of its time.