He’s rude, uptight, very particular and a bit of a know-it-all, at least according to the actor who plays him. He’s Basil Fawlty of Fawlty Towers and the actor is Peninsula Players’ Rob Friesen.
Written by the famous Monty Python’s John Cleese and his former wife Connie Booth, Fawlty Towers is a British television sitcom that chronicles the crazy antics of pessimistic innkeeper, Basil Fawlty. The Peninsula Players are putting on Series 2 of Fawlty Towers at the Mary Winspear Centre after the success of their 2016 presentation.
Friesen, 34, found time between rehearsals to catch up with the PNR and tell us just what it takes to play the character.
“He’s just not a people person. He thinks he’s a lot better at doing things than he actually is and when he gets something in his head he just doesn’t stop.”
If you’ve ever seen the show you’ll know Cleese’s Fawlty has an all-thumbs way about him, paired with high energy. When asked how Friesen mimics this, he says he doesn’t, necessarily. He does similar things because the character is well written, but with his own take. In fact, after Friesen got the part he stopped watching the show.
“I’ve seen a few clips and from the clips: A, I knew I couldn’t do it the same way as (Cleese) does and B, a lot of little things in the show don’t necessarily translate live.”
Friesen cites an example from The Germans episode where Fawlty is alone in a hospital bed with a concussion and comes to with the opening of one eye. The audience might not pick up on smaller movements, such as the opening of an eye or muttering under ones breath, Friesen explains.
This will be Friesen’s third show with the Peninsula Players; he has been with them for just over a year, but has been performing since he was a child, he says, reminiscing about his part in The Sound of Music when he was 11.
Despite performing for many years, Friesen says there are some challenges to playing Fawlty, namely, timing.
“There’s a lot of props and things moving around on set. It’s a huge challenge to remember where everything is and where it’s supposed to be – and because it’s happening live, you have to be able to do it time in and time out; whereas with TV you can do a few takes to get it right.”
Timing does seem important in this show considering its slapstick nature.
“There is a lot of physical comedy in the show, it’s fun. There are definitely scenes where I trip over people, where I whack people in the head, where I pull a chair out from someone and they fall on the ground, and when I’m precariously carrying too many bags.”
In order to ensure everyone is working together, Friesen says it comes down to trial and error in rehearsals and adapting the original TV script to suit the needs of live theatre.
“It’s a big collaborative effort.”
Friesen says he’s very excited about the upcoming performance as he really enjoyed playing Fawlty in the Peninsula Players 2016 Fawlty Towers. He says this time around his character has much more stage time, which is more than he was anticipating. Despite this, he is still looking forward to the potential of more shows next year.
Opening night at the Mary Winspear Centre’s Charlie White Theatre is May 4 at 7:30 p.m. There are two 2 p.m. matinée performances, May 6 and May 7 (closing night). Series 2 features three new episodes: Touch of Class, Waldorf Salad and The Germans.
The presentation is family friendly.