March 3 , 2013
\nAdelaide Festival
\nTheatre<\/p>\n
One Man, Two Guvnors
\nby Richard Bean
\nBased on The Servant of Two Masters
\nby Carlo Goldoni
\nwith songs by Grant Olding
\nNational Theatre of Great Britain
\nHer Majesty\u2019s Theatre, Adelaide
\nMarch 1. Tickets $ 30 – $ 109
\nBookings : BASS 131 246 or adelaidefestival.com.au
\nUntil March 9.<\/p>\n
Sydney Theatre Company season
\nMarch 30 \u2013May 11.
\nMelbourne Theatre Company season
\nMay 17- June 22.<\/p>\n
From the moment The Craze, a young skiffle and beat band complete with quiffs and skinny maroon suits, takes the stage at Her Majesty\u2019s, the National Theatre\u2019s production of One Man, Two Guvnors <\/i>starts to hum. Richard Bean\u2019s adaptation of The Servant of Two Masters<\/i>, Carlo Goldoni\u2019s commedia dell\u2019arte farce \u2013 has been delivered, delightfully intact, to Brighton, England 1963.<\/p>\n
All of the tricks and tropes, japes and capers – mistaken identities, double dealings, frazzled fathers, dimwitted star-crossed lovers, not to mention loyal maids and mischievous servants \u2013 are captured and refreshed. The date 1963 is significant, it reminds us that fifty years ago, the first tunes from the Beatles re-minted British pop culture, including its comedy.<\/p>\n
So, while One Man, Two Guvnors<\/i> celebrates the old Palladium comedy, and the vulgar laffs of Brighton Pier, its zany humour mixes Frankie Howerd with the Pythons, radio comedies like Take it from Here<\/i> with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. The retro format is not a ticket to clich\u00e9, as often commedia revivals are, nor does it dip in the bitter sexist and racist undertow of some of the old music hall. Here the ham acting is finely smoked and the cod is salty fresh.
\nNational director Nicholas Hytner has ensured a briskness and airiness to the comedy, ably assisted by physical comedy director Cal McCrystal. And Grant Olding\u2019s award-winning songs stylishly echo both Lonnie Donnegan skiffle and the tender brashness of Mersey pop.<\/p>\n
Mark Thompson\u2019s designs are constant fun, whether the faded pastel d\u00e9cor which frames the proscenium, the wacky painted flats of the Cricketers\u2019 Arms pub or the street scenes where the intrigues occur. And the improbable collisions of wallpaper, curtains, striped suits and pre-Quant frocks, aptly match the verbal antics of the performers.<\/p>\n
The large cast not only manages the intricacies of the comedy, they have a lot of fun of their own. The double-takes, the corpsing, the improvised asides, the clever use of audience plants, all amp up the humour. Colin Mace anchors the Pantalone role as Charlie Clench, father of Pauline (Kellie Shirley) and in-law to Alan (Leon Williams) hilariously gormless as the lovers. Rosie Wright is delightful as the cross-dressed Rachel, Edward Bennett\u2019s upper class twit Stanley Stubbers is a hoot and Peter Caulfield\u2019s plate rattling Alfie is a show stopper.<\/p>\n
But the clinching success is the brilliant turn by the lead, Owain Arthur, as Patrick Henshall. The role may have been originally made for James Corden, but it now fits Arthur like a fabulously ghastly check suit. His Welsh accent, his amazing agility, his warmth and charm, embody the spirit of the clown while his wit and greedy cunning is the subversive swipe of satire.
\n <\/i>
\nMurray Bramwell<\/p>\n
Published in The Australian as \u201cDelightful farce delivers a dose of Britain in \u201863\u201d
\nMarch 4, 2013, p.15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
March 3 , 2013 Adelaide Festival Theatre One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean Based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni with songs by Grant Olding National Theatre of Great Britain Her Majesty\u2019s Theatre, Adelaide March 1. Tickets $ 30 – $ 109 Bookings : BASS 131 246 or adelaidefestival.com.au Until March 9. Sydney Theatre Company season March 30 \u2013May 11. Melbourne Theatre Company season May 17- June 22. From the moment The Craze, a young skiffle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5,11,19,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-24","category-archive","category-festival","category-international","category-theatre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1906"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1915,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906\/revisions\/1915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}