Stage revivals of the 70s sitcom and The Fast Show have enough nostalgia value to delight fans. Less certain is what will happen to their more problematic material
The essence of humour is surprise, according to that renowned comedy sage Immanuel Kant. So how humorous can it ever be when the TV shows of yesteryear, which many of us know inside out, are revived on stage? Last week’s announcement that three episodes of 70s sitcom Fawlty Towers are being fashioned into a West End play by their co-creator John Cleese followed the news that 90s sketch favourite The Fast Show is heading on tour to mark its 30th anniversary. Suits you, sir? I’m sure it suits the bank manager – but will it still tickle the funny bone?
I write as a battle-scarred veteran not only of Monty Python at the O2 10 years back, but more recent stage adaptations of The Good Life and Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em. What they made clear is that these theatrical jaunts down memory lane aren’t primarily about making us laugh. They’re about nostalgia, about reconnecting us with our younger selves. What you lose of the surprise on which comedy depends, you gain in the golden glow of recollection as simpler, more joyful times are spirited back to life. Outside, the world may be aflame and the culture wars raging, but in some corner of an English television, Frank Spencer will always be “ooh, Betty”ing down a banister, beret askew.
