‘Fawlty Towers’ Stage Play Won’t Have Racial Slurs, John Cleese Says: ‘The Literal-Minded Don’t Understand Irony’
The London West End stage adaptation of “Fawlty Towers” will be free of racial slurs, creator John Cleese has said.
“Fawlty Towers – The Play” is based on the classic 1975 sitcom and is written by Cleese and Connie Booth and adapted for the stage by Cleese. Cleese, who co-wrote the original 1975 TV series with Connie Booth and starred as Basil Fawlty, has written the two-hour play based on three of the original TV episodes – “The Hotel Inspector” and “The Germans” from Season 1 and “Communication Problems” from Season 2. “The Germans” episode was in the eye of a storm in 2020 when UKTV removed it as it contained “racial slurs.” The “racial slurs” are contained in a scene in which the character Major Gowen uses the N-word when referring to Caribbean sportsmen and uses a derogatory term to refer to Indians.
More from Variety
The episode was later reinstated after Cleese attacked the decision to remove the episode as “stupid,” as well as taking a swipe at those who take a revisionist view of history in the context of the Black Lives Matter debate.
The press launch of the stage adaptation took place on Thursday, preceded by two extracts from the play. Speaking at the event, Cleese said: “Those scenes where the Major used a couple of words you can’t use now, racial slurs they would come under, we took them out.”
“There’s always a problem with comedy that you deal with the literal-minded,” Cleese added. “Whenever you’re doing comedy you’re up against the literal-minded and the literal-minded don’t understand irony. And that means if you take them seriously, you get rid of a lot of comedy. Because literal-minded people don’t understand metaphor, irony or comic exaggeration. People who are not literal-minded can see there’s various different interpretations, depending on different contexts.”
In 2023, it was announced that “Fawlty Towers” was being revived for TV at Castle Rock Entertainment, with Cleese and his daughter Camilla Cleese set to write and star. Cleese has since revealed that the series will be set in the Caribbean where Basil Fawlty moves to, to be with his illegitimate daughter.
At the “Fawlty Towers – The Play” media launch on Thursday, Cleese also revealed that the series would be set in the 1970s. “We never tried to update ‘Fawlty Towers.’ We’re doing it in the 70s because that’s when all those attitudes were,” Cleese said.
The sitcom was first recorded at BBC Television Centre in 1974 and was first broadcast on BBC Two in 1975. The iconic show went on to win many awards and plaudits including two BAFTAS for Best Situation Comedy and in 2000 it was voted the best British program of all time in a British Film Institute poll. Set in a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay, just 12 half hour episodes of the iconic comedy were made. The sitcom is based on a real-life hotel owner, Donald Sinclair. Cleese came up with the idea for the character of Basil Fawlty when he stayed at Sinclair’s Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay and became fascinated with his incredibly rude behavior.
Despite a rejection letter from a BBC light entertainment comedy script editor in 1974, “Fawlty Towers” was greenlit relatively quickly, Cleese said at the media launch. “That was how the BBC used to work in the old days. And now it goes through three committees, none of whom would have any idea what they were talking about,” Cleese said.
Previews of the West End adaptation will commence at London’s Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, from May 4. The production is presented by Phil McIntyre Live. Basil will be played by Adam Jackson-Smith; Sybil by Anna-Jane Casey; Manuel by Hemi Yeroham; Polly by Victoria Fox; and Major Gowen by Paul Nicholas.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
