Reviews – One Man Two Guvnors

With our production of One Man Two Guvnors over you can read some reviews below:

If you love the theatre, it’ll be hard not to have heard of, if not seen, the triumphant production of One Man Two Guvnors, starring James Cordon, produced by the National Theatre back in 2011.  An adaptation of the commedia dell’ arte comedy, The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni, the original production wowed audiences and critics on both sides of the pond picking up an armful of awards along the way and making Cordon an international star.

So, for this reason, when I heard that Studio was staging the show my initial reaction was ‘Are they mad?  Surely a show too far, even for this award winning community theatre.  Big, big shoes to fill, or in the case of the main character, a very large, Harlequinesque three piece suit.’

The adapted story is transposed from 18^th century Italy to Brighton in 1963.  The Beatles have just hit the toppermost of the poppermost and skiffle is all the rage, and the hapless Francis Henshall has found himself working for two guvnors – Roscoe Crabbe, a small-time villain, and Stanley Stubbers, an upper-class twit.  Now, Roscoe is betrothed to Pauline, the daughter of local gangster, Charlie the Duck, but Pauline is in love with Alan, an overly dramatic, second-rate actor.  But it soon transpires that Roscoe is in fact dead and is being impersonated by his ‘identical’ twin sister Rachel, who, in turn, is in love with Stanley who, only a few days earlier, murdered her brother Roscoe and is now lying low on the South Coast.  And so the fun begins.

So, a huge undertaking, but first-time director, Antonia Harding, steered this particular ship admirably.  On the whole, the cast was strong, with notable performances by Rachel Fletcher as the busty bookkeeper, Dolly,  Alistair Faulkner channelling his inner Cockney as Charlie, Richard Knight as the suave, Latin spouting lawyer, Harry Dangle and Emily Casselton as the sweet but confused Pauline.  But, of course, the standout performance of the evening was provided by Jamie Pullen, who took on the lion’s share, as the dim but likeable Henshall.  Daft, deft and delightful in equal measure – in the long shadow of JC, he managed to make the part his own.  Together with a great rapport with audience, he managed the complexities of the comedy well and handled the physicality that the part demands with aplomb.

A mention must also go to the inventiveness of the set designers, Jemma and Octavia Clarke. Ok, perhaps the transitions could’ve been a little slicker (no fault of the tireless stage crew), but it served the play well, so no real complaints.

If I had a criticism, the production, at times, lacked a little pace and dynamism.  Some of the set pieces were absolutely on point but some just missed the mark.  It was also obvious that the more experienced actors were better equipped to handle the comedy than some of the others, who occassionally needed more energy and focus to give their scenes the umph they deserved, but this is a minor niggle and didn’t detract from a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Richard Bean wrote a bullet proof piece of theatre, with first rate one liners coming at you thick and fast and fabulously inventive set pieces.  For any company to take on this masterpiece of physical comedy could be thought of as foolhardy, but Studio managed to stamp their own identity on this modern classic and did a pretty decent job of it.  With only a couple of shows left in the run, it’s well worth a trip to Ashley Road to see it.

3 Stars

Chris Hawley https://uktheatre.mn.co/posts/one-man-two-guvnors

The summer offering from Studio Theatre Salisbury is the brilliantly written One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean.

The play started off life premiering at the National Theatre and then went on a long production run in both the West End, before moving to Broadway. The leading role made famous by James Corden of Gavin And Stacey fame who won the Tony Award in the USA for best actor.

The play is set in 1963. The lead character, Francis Henshall, becomes separately employed by two men – Roscoe Crabbe, a gangster, and Stanley Stubbers, an upper class twit. Francis tries to keep the two from meeting, in order to avoid each of them learning that Francis is also working for someone else. Complicating events, Roscoe is really Rachel Crabbe in disguise, his twin sister. Roscoe had been killed by Rachel’s boyfriend, who is none other than Stanley. Complicating it further still is local mobster Charlie ‘the Duck’ Clench, who has arranged his daughter Pauline’s engagement to Roscoe despite her preference for over-the-top amateur actor Alan Dangle.

There is no doubt that this production is ambitious especially for any amateur group. The pace, props, set and physical comedy is key and, at every point, during the 2 and a half hours, has to be on point.

There is an excellent performance from Jamie Pullen as Francis Henshall. His drive and energy is palpable and shines through. His engagement with the character and with the audience, is strong giving a physically strong and energetic performance throughout. He is brilliantly supported by Rachel Fletcher, who gives a faultless performance as Dolly (Bookkeeper and love interest of Francis). The production is well supported by Alistair Faulkner as Charlie Clench. There are great comedy performances by Matthew Hodge as Alfie and Richard Knight as Gareth; the waiter scene in particular was a real highlight.

There was, however, an issue with the set and scene changes which were long and seemed to have been under rehearsed. It is key to any production to ensure that the pace and slickness of scene changes do not become so slow that the audience becomes uncomfortable. While I completely acknowledge there is a lot of scenery and props I am afraid a number of times I did feel uncomfortable, especially in one scene change where the music ran out and had to be started again. I would have loved to have seen more done with the back projection to help overcome this and keep the audience engaged while the changes took place.

The lighting and costumes were first rate and I loved the attention to detail. The back projection used to depict the Brighton sea front was a great touch. I would have liked the music to have been louder and perhaps have been chosen to support and fit in more with the overall production. It felt a little disjointed at times.

There is no doubt that Studio Theatre want to push the boundaries with this production. While there were some standout and outstanding performances in this production overall I think it could be a stretch too far.

https://sceneoneplus.com/one-man-two-guvnors-4/

IN the old days of classic Whitehall farce, the set designers had an easy job. They built a classic box set and put in as many doors round the sides as possible. Then the actors dashed at break-neck speed through them, often changing not just direction but costume and character backstage. And then of course the main characters dropped their trousers.

Not so in the 21st century, when the availability of technological gizmos allows much more demanding and complicated sets. Which is all fine if you are the National Theatre or one of the big professional producing houses, but not so good for amateur companies in cramped volunteer-run theatres.

This problem was writ large for the Salisbury Studio Theatre production of Richard Bean’s One Man Two Guvnors, with its fledgling director Antonia Harding, taking on her first full-length play. The play is a brilliant updating of Goldoni’s 1745 play Il servitore di due padroni, (The Servant of Two Masters). It’s set in the swinging 60s, mostly in Brighton, where members of competing criminal families are trying to out-do one another, funny money is being passed along the line and plots are being hatched. Into this villainous melee comes Francis Henshall, a man so perpetually hungry that all other considerations are ignored. He takes on two jobs so that he can eat more. His new bosses are crime boss Charlie the Duck Clench and the public school educated gangster Stanley Stubbers, beloved of Rachel Crabbe, who is currently impersonating her twin brother who was engaged to The Duck’s daughter and has been murdered … by Stanley Stubbers. And that is just the easy bit.

As Francis (the role created by James Cordon in London) dashes between potential meals and demanding bosses, other important and extraneous people get called in to the increasingly complicated action, which is set in The Duck’s home, the local pub, and a top of the stairs corridor in the Brighton pub which in turn leads to two other private dining rooms. All this calls for intricate scene changing, which, if the play is to succeed, must be as fast and furious as the action. Perhaps when the Salisbury production is bedded down, it will attain that speed and precision.

There are some wonderful performances in the Studio show – perhaps led by Emily Casselton as Pauline Clench, daughter of Alistair Faulkner’s Charlie the Duck. She is perfectly hilarious, with no hint of caricature. Jamie Pullen takes on the central role of Francis with charming aplomb and ferocious energy, and Rachel Fletcher skips between characters with her usual skill. Will Eamer plays Stubbers in the manner of a Rees-Mogg, and Jacob Franks enjoys every moment as the actorish Alan. The other parts are played by Clare Green as Rachel Crabb, Richard Knight as a bent lawyer and a camp waiter, Simon Carter as the landlord-chef, Matthew Hodge as an ancient waiter and Claire Martin as more or less everyone else.

Antonia Harding has brought some enjoyably fresh ideas to the show, but it really does need a steadier and tighter hand. Perhaps all the glitches will be ironed out by the time you see it.

https://www.theftr.co.uk/one-man-two-guvnors-studio-theatre-salisbury/