Slapstick, bad puns and the sort of physical comedy that leaves you wondering, ‘was that supposed to happen?’ are what you can expect from the latest National Theatre production to hit Oxford (with a comedy cricket bat).
One Man Two Guvnors is the lovechild of Richard Bean’s adaptation of Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters and Nick Hytner’s directorial genius at the National Theatre.
Brought out of Italy and into 1960s Brighton, the show is replete with colourful costumes, larger than life wigs and funky 60s music. As for the plot, well: Francis Henshall (Gavin Spokes) is Roscoe Crabbe’s minder but Roscoe is killed by Stanley Stubbers (Patrick Warner) who is the boyfriend of Roscoe’s sister, Rachel (Alicia Davies), so Rachel pretends to be Roscoe and Francis becomes both Rachel and Stanley’s guvnor. Got it? Probably not but don’t worry, scenes like the infamous ‘dinner’ at the end of the first half, combine farce, audience participation and physical comedy in a way that will have you forgetting the necessity of a plot altogether.
Speaking to Shaun Williamson (who plays Charlie Clench) before the show, he commented that, after the dinner scene, the actors really have to pick the energy back up again in the second half. The cast managed this with aplomb. They were fantastic throughout considering, without wishing to give anything away, that they must have the hard task of being prepared for the worst. Particular praise should go to Edward Hancock, playing aspiring actor, Alan Dangle, whose flexible gesticulations had the audience in stitches. Similarly, Patrick Warner’s boarding school exclamations (“skin chimneys” being perhaps my favourite of many many euphemisms) certainly achieved their desired effect. Perhaps on the production’s wide-ranging tour, other cast members will get their rightful mention, but here in Oxford, it’s only right that the audience appreciate the overdramatic actor and the toff.
The production’s skiffle band, The Craze, provided slick entertainment during scene changes and at the start and end of the show. Oxfordians may appreciate that their musical director, Philip Murray Warson, is from Bicester, another reason to get down to see this production while it's at the New Theatre. As the story progresses, characters join the band at the front to perform in comedic music hall-style numbers. These were a mixed bag and it is a shame that some actors were quite clearly miming their parts.
Overall however, I would highly recommend trying to see this classic. If you can't catch One Man Two Guvnors in Oxford in the next couple of days then the company’s next stops are Wimbledon, York and Wolverhampton.