An interactive play of ‘Fawlty Towers’ is wending its way around the festival circuit. Waldorf salad anyone?

THERE'S nothing quite so drab in the performing arts as a poor parody, except perhaps an Irish production of A Streetcar Named Desireor Lady Windermere's Fan where the tones of New Orleans or Belgravia are shot through with a hint of Christian Brother.

Bearing this in mind, I approached Faulty Towers – The Dining Experiencewith a degree of trepidation. After all, the deal was this: three actors would pretend to be Basil, Sybil and Manuel and do some scenes from the celebrated 1970s television series of almost the same name, while the audience ate. And the company in question was called Interactive Theatre. Interactive?

I regard Fawlty Towersas a work of genius and something with which you mess at your peril. I was, however, vaguely encouraged by the fact that the cast are from Australia, hence not much risk that the accents would sound like Joan Burton crossed with Kevin Myers.

Raheen House, near the centre of Clonmel, looks a bit like Fawlty Towers. You could certainly translate it to the leafy suburbs of Torquay and it wouldn’t look like an alien craft had landed.

Inside, on a balmy July evening, hordes of people had gathered to pay homage to the Genghis Khan of the hospitality industry. Inside, too, was some of the most bizarre interior design I’ve ever seen.

We were ushered through a faux-cut-stone ante-room into a cavernous function room, which combined elements of Victorian gothic (black wrought-iron grilles over the air-conditioning vents), a deranged take on the Book of Kells and eye-stinging stained glass. This chamber of horrors was crammed with large tables and everything looked as if it were set for a gothic wedding reception.

If ever there was a room that could upstage a theatre performance, this was it. The show was a series of sketches from the television series with a bit of improvisation thrown in. And some gentle interaction with the audience. But it amounted to more than the sum of its parts.

Despite rotten acoustics in an extensive venue, the cast played a blinder.

Daley Donnelly, as Manuel, not only out-Manueled Andrew Sachs but introduced a degree of subtlety to the character and drew more sympathy from the audience than the original. If he narrowed the wings of his moustache, he could play an uncannily convincing Adolf Hitler.

Michael Davoren, as Basil, got the bodily bit perfectly right: the perversely stiff-limbed fluidity that John Cleese made the hallmark of the character. And his take on the clipped, gritted-teeth voice was impressive. However, the sheer manic derangement that Cleese brought to the character was less pronounced in this production.

Sybil, played by Alison Pollard-Mansergh, was a triumph. From the scarily authentic middle-class Home Counties whine to the robotic laugh and fixed, saccharine smile, she was the funniest performer of the three.

Now, don’t run away with the idea that this is a great theatrical show. It’s just a bit of a jape, but it’s a well-performed bit of a jape. And if you are a fan of the original show and go with a gang of enthusiasts, you will have a ball. It’s not cheap, though. Tickets, including your meal but no drinks, cost €45 (though this varies from venue to venue). And if the food on this occasion was anything to go by, I’d have a sandwich before the show.

Absolutely spot-on. I don’t know how they do it.

Faulty Towers – The Dining Experienceis at An Chuirt Hotel, Gweedore tonight (€30) and Rathmullan House on Wednesday and Thursday (€40), as part of Earagail Arts Festival, before touring elsewhere in Ireland. See www.interactivetheatre.com.au. Other events at the Earagail festival include drive-in movies at Ards Forest Park, an audience with Mr Nice featuring Howard Marks, and a writers' workshop with Brian Keenan. The festival runs until July 19th. 074-9120777, www.eaf.ie