Adelaide Fringe

Interview: Nicholas Richard (Manuel in Faulty Towers – The Dining Experience)

Faulty Towers – The Dining Experience, presented by Interactive Theatre International, has been a long-time crowd favourite at the Adelaide Fringe. After witnessing the brilliance of the show last year, I was pleased to see that show will be returning to the Fringe in 2021.

Faulty Towers – The Dining Experience, presented by Interactive Theatre International, has been a long-time crowd favourite at the Adelaide Fringe. After witnessing the brilliance of the show last year, I was pleased to see that show will be returning to the Fringe in 2021.

Over the course of 2 hours, audiences are treated to a 3-course meal while being thrown into the chaos that is Faulty Towers, complete with Basil, Sybil and Manuel.

In the upcoming Fringe season, Manuel will be played by Nicholas Richard. Richard joined the show in 2018, and is also known for his work as the voice and puppetry behind Hoot the Owl in the highly successful ABC Kids show, Giggle and Hoot.

I recently caught up with Nicholas to discuss the show, how it’s been adapted for our new COVID compliant world, and the return to live performance.

“The New South Wales team did a few shows towards the end of 2020 when things were looking good and calm. I was a bit apprehensive at first, thinking, ‘Oh man, there’s now an extra layer of things to think about with our COVID-safe script”. It’s not an entirely different show, but there’s a lot of things to think about. But the payoff is that we can do the show and interact with people and see audiences experience it again. I was really glad that we got to do it. It is really quite special that we were able to get back to performing despite what is happening around the world.”

For those who haven’t experienced the chaotically entertaining world of Faulty Towers, The Dining Experience, I was curious to hear in Nicholas’ own words what audiences could expect.

“It seems really cliche to say, but people can expect to have a great night and laugh a lot. When I first saw the show, I was watching it as a potential employee as well as a spectator, and I really just enjoyed it for what it is. I was losing it, and loving it. But I also know people get concerned when they hear “interactive theatre” – I do like to stress that if you are one of those ‘fly on the wall’ people and just watch, that is what is going to happen. The way the show works, and in the same way improv works, if we try to interact with an audience member and they give us nothing, we move on to someone else. People get worried that it’s like a stand-up comedy show and they are going to get singled out, but that doesn’t happen. If you do want to interact with us, that’s all part of it and we welcome it.”

For the show to be able to be performed under COVID regulations, small components of the script and certain interactions with the audience have had to be adapted.

“Usually we get up nice and close during the interactions with the audiences over dinner and have a chat, but now we try and keep things obviously distant when we are going table to table. Even things like handling food – that’s now part of the venue’s responsibility and they can ensure there are certain levels of safety. We don’t fall under the venue’s responsibility in that regard. The bulk of the script and gags are still along the same lines as before, but it’s just now more controlled and at times, less chaotic. We’ve made it as organic as possible, but still keeping an eye on everything.”

Faulty Towers – The Dining Experience is based on the antics of the classic British comedy, Fawlty Towers. What is it about British humour, and in particular the work of John Cleese and Connie Booth that is still as entertaining today as it was when it was first written?

“I really don’t know! I love comedy from that era. There is something that I believe about that era where there were a lot of extremely clever people doing extremely stupid comedy, but doing it very intelligently. Silly humour and slapstick humour – there’s a big difference between it being done by clever people and others. That era had a lot of fascinating and worldly people creating that, even though it comes across as very silly humour. It was crafted in such a way that it really has stood the test of time. A lot of recent sketch shows, or even YouTube comedy channels churn shows out, and it’s not that same level. There’s also only 12 episodes, and each episode has at least 3 stories lines that are all interwoven, so it feels like there are more than there is. It’s also amazing how many quotes from the show have made it into general conversation, without people really knowing it’s from Fawlty Towers.”

Nicholas has been playing the iconic role of Manuel in Faulty Towers – The Dining Experience since 2019. I asked him what it is like to play homage to such a well-known character night after night, and what the training process was like when he was first cast by Interactive Theatre International.

“It’s a bit daunting. I take it very seriously, because he is such an iconic character. His innocence is beautiful because he’s really trying his best to do the right thing. I think in many ways I have an easier job than our Basil or Sybil because people are so forgiving of him. He does stand out in people’s minds, so you do need to honour what people expect from Manuel. Watching Andrew Sachs do Manuel is fascinating. It’s all the little things he did that make the character. Andrew Sachs’ work is a great inspiration to how I present Manuel. It’s a massive honour, but also very daunting. He’s very iconic – I don’t take it lightly.

“I was really lucky. In 2018 was when I started with the company, it timed up perfectly with several members of ITI from the UK being out here in Australia working on some scripts and a new show. So, there were a lot of really experienced people in the same place at the same time. I was very fortunate that in part of my audition process, I was able to do a lot of scene work with several of the rotating Basils and Sybils. I also did a lot of work with Andy Foreman, who has been with the company since its inception; he was their first Manuel. He’s been Manuel-ling for 20 years, so it was really good to be able to do some one-on-one with him too. We also followed the team around and observed them in action, like a fly on the wall.”

Part of the magic of the show is how the three actors who portray Basil, Sybil and Manuel interact with the diners. There is a lot of unscripted material in the show, where I’m sure the cast never quite know what the audience is going to say.

“Sometimes there are cheeky people who ask each of us the same question to see if we have the same answer. Usually, it’s asking us where Polly is. Mostly it’s them wanting to see how prepped we are. There are a lot of moments where we all are backstage at the same time and we use that time to pass info onto each other. Sometimes people want to quote things directly from the show. We want to interact, but we have a copyright issue, so we can allude to things but not quote it word for word.

“It’s funny for the audiences who have been several times. I sometimes walk out as Manuel and they call out “oh! I saw you last year” and you have to stay in character and give them a “No, no. I was not here”. It’s so great that people return to see the show and bring different friends and family members.”

Nicholas will be joined at the Adelaide Fringe Festival this year with Monique Lewis-Reynolds as Sybil and Jack Newell as Basil.

“We cannot wait to have Faulty Towers The Dining Experience back here in Adelaide for the fringe this year. The world really needs laughter and fun right now, and this is the perfect show to do just that.”

Faulty Towers – The Dining Experience will be playing at The Pavillion at Adelaide Oval throughout the 2021 Adelaide Fringe. Full details and bookings can be made at https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/faulty-towers-the-dining-experience-af2021

Interview by Ben Stefanoff

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