Firstly, a confession. I have never seen the hugely successful TV version of Benidorm. So I start at a disadvantage, as pretty much all of the people around me have not only seen it, but obviously love it dearly and, now that the TV series is no more, are thrilled that they can visit the Solana Hotel themselves.
The set is incredibly clever with an external revolve and an internal revolve working in opposite directions and allowing the multiple scene changes to happen quickly and seamlessly. Dancing waiters and assorted hotel guests also help to disguise the more complex transformations.
In the cheap-as-chips hotel the staff are universally incompetent, the standards are low, the manager is rude and there are some undercover hotel inspectors staying who have the power to get the hotel closed down. Yes, that is the exact plotline used in the Fawlty Towers episode created nearly 45 years ago – but it still works today.
If you think of a hybrid of Fawlty Towers and the Carry On films you have the idea – all you need to add is some very 21st century innuendo.There is no avoiding the innuendo, so I might as well slip it in now and, brace yourself, it’s going to make you squeal. That is the level and it gets no better! The Sausages in Wine or the Sausages in Cider (say that quick to make the gag work) is probably the high point. Subtle as a flying mallet.
The cast of 16 work very hard as the pace is fast and furious. Acting, singing, dancing – they do it all, and they do it well. They give the eager audience everything that they hoped for and more by proving that, as well as providing the laughs, they are consummate professionals in all three disciplines.
The six familiar faces from the TV series, Jake Canuso (Mateo), Janine Duvitski (Jacqueline), Adam Gillen (Liam), Shelley Longworth (Sam), Tony Maudsley (Kenneth) and Sherrie Hewson (Joyce Temple-Savage) all get a huge hand on their opening (I’m not sure I can stop this now!) and, together with nightclub singer Asa Elliott, really give everything they have to make sure that the stage production is as faithful to the TV show as possible.
Is it as good at the multi-award winning television series? Judging from the audience reaction I would have to say that yes, it is. I hear people discussing characters that they would like to see on stage but, with Derren Litten’s well written story focusing on the characters who are there, attention soon focuses on the here and now.
As I leave the theatre, with Y Viva Espana stuck firmly in my head (thanks for that!), I suddenly realise that I am smiling, which probably looks a little crazy, but then I realise that all the people around me are also smiling, because we have all had a fabulous, but all too brief, stay at the Solana Hotel, Benidorm.
**** Four Stars