John Cleese's ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play' will head out on a major theatre tour for 2025 and 2026 it has been announced.
Currently playing to sold-out houses at London’s Apollo Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue, the show has been extended twice. The new tour will take place over 10 months as it travels across the UK and Ireland from 30th September 2025 to July 2026.
Based on three of the original BBC TV episodes of the classic TV series, ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play' has been adapted for the stage by original co-creator John Cleese into a two-hour play, complete with a new finale. Casting will be announced in due course.
Directed by the West End originating director, Caroline Jay Ranger, the tour will visit major towns and cities across the UK and Ireland: Eastbourne, Bournemouth, Wimbledon, High Wycombe, Manchester, Liverpool, Northampton, Southend, Plymouth, Guildford, Leeds, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Sunderland, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Southampton, Ipswich, Birmingham, Bradford, Blackpool, Torquay, Truro, Milton Keynes, Llandudno, Hull, York, Woking, Nottingham, Norwich, Cardiff, Newcastle, Dartford and Oxford.
John Cleese said: “When we came up with the idea of bringing Fawlty Towers to the stage, I never thought it would get the reception that it has. On 23 December it will be 50 years to the day since we recorded the pilot at BBC Television Centre and I’m delighted that the audiences we’ve had in the West End still think it’s as funny as ever. The announcement of the tour means many more people will now have the chance to laugh themselves helpless.”
Following a tip off that hotel inspectors may be visiting and eager to impress, Basil attempts to ingratiate himself with guests that he suspects are there to critique the establishment. The situation is further plagued by a party of Germans, the deaf and dotty guest-from-hell, Mrs Richards, whose infuriating complaints prevent him from hiding a gambling win from his ever vigilant and bossy wife, Sybil. Together they run their hotel with a little help from the unflappable Polly, and very little help at all from Manuel, the trainee waiter from Barcelona who is the butt of Fawlty’s frustration.
Tickets are on sale now from FawltyTowersTour.co.uk.
