A theatre company is to perform a version of Fawlty Towers – in the seaside resort which inspired it 40 years ago, it has emerged.
The play in Torquay, Devon, will feature characters including hotel owner Basil Fawlty, his wife Cybil and Spanish waiter Manwell.
John Cleese famously wrote the BBC sitcom after visiting the resort in 1970 and staying at the Gleneagles Hotel.
He described owner Donald Sinclair as ”the most marvellously rude man I’ve ever met” and used him as an inspiration for the show.
The Toads Theatre company will now become the first to perform a version of Fawlty Towers in Torquay.
Director Stephanie Austin said: ”Since the show was televised in the 1970s several stage shows have been produced, but never in the town where the programmes were based.
”John Cleese got the inspiration while staying at the Gleneagles Hotel, which is just round the corner from our theatre. If you like, Fawlty Towers is coming home.
”We have created a show which will appeal to anyone who loved the television shows, but also enjoys the thrill of seeing really great comedy created live.”
The show will stick to the scripts of three of the most famous episodes, with local actors replacing John Cleese, Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs
Fawlty Towers will run at The Little Theatre from August 2 to 14.
