It’s the show every British fan has been waiting for Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience and it’s brought to you by the people behind the worldwide smash hit Faulty Towers The Dining Experience.
This fully immersive experience Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience is a tribute to the BBC’s Only Fools & Horses TV series. The show transports audiences to The Nags Head, to wheel, deal, participate in a quiz and dine on a 3-course meal.
The fun starts from the moment you walk into the Nags Head to play a quiz which Del Boy has been left in charge of. Meanwhile, they try to drum up some cash and try to make a cheeky saving on the side as Del has debts to be paid!
It is a cushty night out with some proper 80’s pub grub, “Lovely Jubbly”.
More about Interactive Theatre International
Interactive Theatre International (ITI), is a professional Australian company theatre company which was founded in 1997. They produce and promote high quality interactive, site-specific and immersive comedy theatre which is performed around the world.
Since 1997, Interactive Theatre International has been staging Faulty Towers The Dining Experience, it’s tribute to the BBC show, all over the world. It has been resident in London since 2012, where it ranks consistently high in TripAdvisor’s top London Theatre listings; it holds TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence for four years (2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018).
Their other shows across the UK include Confetti & Chaos (formerly The Wedding Reception) and Faulty Towers The Dining Experience. All their current shows can be found by clicking here.
Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience
Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience is a tribute show, created in homage to the classic TV series Only Fools & Horses. Whilst the performance features representations of the principal protagonists from the TV series, it does not reproduce any script or music from the TV show. There is a scripted element to their shows which has been written and is original but the majority of the show is improvised.
Since September 2018, in the UK, it has been on tour and now playing in London’s West End for a limited time at Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury Grafton with the show already attracting widespread recognition.
Cast on the night (6 October)
Characters: Del Boy / Uncle AlbertNick is an actor, comedian and impressionist. He began his professional acting career over 20 years ago when he started working as a stunt artist in a jousting tournament. Since then Nick has accumulated many roles, not just within theatre and musicals but also in the film industry where some of his credits include Brighton Mob, Home for Christmas, and Further Ed. His character work has made him one of the most sought after impersonators on the touring circuit, winning critical and audience reviews. Nick also freelances as a producer and a director.
Characters: Rodney TrotterLawrence gained a Masters degree at the University of Kent, alongside training at the Moscow Arts Theatre in Russia. He went on to receive high acclaim for his portrayal of Shaggy in the Warner Brothers UK tour Scooby Doo Live where he completed 560 consecutive shows. Recent performances include Parolles (All’s Well That Ends Well) and Edgar (King Lear) at the 30th annual Cambridge Shakespeare Festival and Fagin (Oliver!) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Lawrence appears regularly in immersive and stand up shows in the UK and internationally, and currently leads the cast of the successful web series Casting Directors, now in its second season. He is also a keen writer and director, having set up his own company ‘In a Nutshell’, which creates immersive and interactive theatre for children.
Rob Taylor-Hastings
Characters: Boycie / Trigger
Rob led his University’s Theatre Company to produce 41 shows in one year and founded their still-running improve group, the Flat Pack. He went on to train at East 15, graduating his Masters in 2012. Since then, Rob has moved on to write, direct and produce comedy shows for multiple years at Edinburgh Fringe and for radio. Recently he was in talks with The BBC to develop his long running web series into a fully-fledged show. He has performed in a wide range of productions, from Shakespeare & Pinter to abstract movement pieces and performance art. His television debut came as a recurring character in Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, where he gained notable popularity. Currently, Rob is expanding his career and pursuing being a presenter for, eg, his YouTube Toy Review channel that recently broke 2m views, Robots Live (a touring version of Robot Wars), and The Crystal Maze Live Experience (intro video and in competition). All this, but he quotes his greatest achievement as creating his own video production company: focusing on corporate video and short festival films, Tiny Ginger Studios has travelled the globe and produced wide ranging content from Toy Fair reviews to political activism in the USA.
Katharine Mary
Characters: Marlene / Cassandra
Kat trained at the Guildford School of Acting, graduating in 2004. Since setting up her own theatre company (also in 2004), has produced and performed in shows both in the UK and internationally. These have ranged from an adaptation of popular children’s book ‘Vampirates’, to comedy parody ‘Escape From The Planet Of The Day That Time Forgot’, to large scale immersive shows such as ‘Oh What a Lovely War’ ‘Metamorphosis’ and ‘Woyzeck’. Kat regularly tours her solo show ‘Mata Hari – Female Spy’ and performs as a puppeteer with street theatre troupe, the ‘Flying Buttresses’. TV credits include playing Julia in the award winning BBC1 drama ‘Pompeii –The Last Day’, and playing Ellie alongside Josh Widdecombe in BBC’s ‘Josh’. Kat has worked extensively in commercials and is often cast as ‘commercial mum’ for brands such as Kaufland, Halfords and Peugeot. She has presented for Facebook Live alongside David Schneider and can also be seen chasing the general public around the Crystal Maze as a Maze Master – think Richard O’Brien but with more hair!
Radisson Blu Edwardian Grafton
Radisson Blu Edwardian Grafton is a 4-Star Hotel on Tottenham Court Road.
The hotel has a 19th century heritage and set in a trendy Fitzrovia location making it the perfect base to explore famous London attractions and enjoy an immersive dining night of Only Fools The (Cushty) Dining Experience for a limited time (now till 15 December 2018 with new dates to be announced for 2019).
The hotel has contemporary rooms having a different look and feel to each with rich furnishings, all designed to give guests a comfortable space to work, play and stay.
To find out more about this hotel click here.
A night at The Nags Head with Del Boy and Rodney
Earlier on in the year I went and watched Interactive Theatre much-loved, globetrotting show, Faulty Towers The Dining Experience which was outstanding.
However when I heard later on in the year that Interactive Theatre International was bringing to London their take on Only Fools and Horses called Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience I was very excited.
I was cordially invited to the Nags Head to wheel and deal with the Trotters and give my verdict on their antics and how they ran the night.
Firstly let’s do some wheeling and dealing myself.
At Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience guests will enjoy an immersive 2-hour show and a 3-course meal. Set in a make shift Nags Head pub within the hotel. The whole show involves a whole lot of improvisation with audience participation being key.
During the night over four different scenes are played out by just four performers covering eight classic characters.
Firstly guests are all sat at a certain table and a team captain has to be nominated plus a team name has to be given. Our team captain called our table Team No.
Throughout the experience at certain intervals questions and games are played to win points such as racing across the room with empty bowls. I nominated myself before I even knew what the challenging game was and o’boy how I regretted it as I tried to be clever and pick up all the empty bowls of soup at once and they went everywhere. I even knocked over a man’s wine, oops. Serves me right for being so competitive. There was a few other games and many questions throughout the night but I won’t reveal what they are as so you don’t cheat. The pub quiz winners at the end of the night got a special recognition for their excellence unfortunately we did not win but we came third.
Apart from the quiz fun as mentioned earlier scenes are played out between Del and Rodney and Co. My favourites being an exploding dishwasher, a hopeful pregnancy and a surprise engagement takes place!
The meals served are 80’s retro pub grub.
The food was hot and all tasted great with the Tomato Soup being creamy, Chicken Kiev oozing of garlic butter and the Fruit Pavlova having a great crunch and sweetness.
Me and my husband Jason who I took along with me we laughed the whole evening. Del, Rodney, Trigger, Boycie, Cassandra, Marlene and Uncle Albert really did know how to entertain us all with their comical moments. As always like Only Fools and Horses Del and Rodney were the main stars of the show.
We even got a snap with the cast at the end of the night.
Which character do you love the most?
An ‘Bonnet de douche’ night as Del would say
This truly was a night full of laughs and one that I won’t forget. You’ll be coming away reliving the memories saying to your friends and family “During the Only Fools …….”
So if you love immersive shows, the show Only Fools and Horses, love the classic characters of Del, Rodney, Trigger, Boycie, Cassandra, and Uncle Albert you will absolutely be saying wow that was an excellent show or as Del Boy would put it “Bonnet de douche”.
You’d be a plonker to miss this limited run in London of Only Fools The Cushty Dining Experience so do yourself a lemon and book it!
“You know it makes sense”
Only Fools in London
At present showing through until 15 December 2018 (every Friday and Saturday night). With new dates coming soon for 2019.
3-course meal and 2-hour interactive show
Pre-dinner drinks from 7:00pm
Performance commences 7:30pm
Price: £49.00 per person
You can book tickets for this show direct with Interactive Theatre International via clicking here.
Thanks to Interactive Theatre International for inviting us down to attend your latest production of Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience. The invite was complimentary but all views are my own honest opinions.
Click below to read the blogs from other community members of Love Pop Ups London whom went on different nights. All their views are of their own honest opinion.
“I love going out discovering new and existing restaurants, theatres, immersive experiences and so much more but I also love staying in and discovering new gadgets, gaming and cooking.
This looks fun! The quiz element is different too which sounds good.
how can you book
Via https://www.interactivetheatre.com.au/onlyfools/tickets.html