New Zealand dates axed

A touring version of Fawlty Towers has been cancelled – with producers citing earthquake damage as the region.

John Cleese is behind the new show, which is currently performing in Perth, Australia. But dates in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington early next year have been axed.

Producers said they ‘arrived at the difficult decision… due to a number of factors, including last week’s significant earthquake.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck  near the South Island resort of Kaikoura on Monday last week,  killing two people and causing major infrastructure damage. Aftershocks reverberated all week.

The venues where the show was due to visit remain open, with the parent company of Wellington’s St James’s Theatre, closest to the earthquake declaring on Tuesday: ‘All of our venues have been declared safe to occupy and set to go with events this week and beyond.’

Fawlty Towers features a new cast picked by Cleese and adapting his original scripts. Reviews have been generally positive for the Australian leg of the tour.

Published: 20 Nov 2016