Richard Bean’s One Man, Two Guvnors is one of a very long line of adaptations of Carlo Goldoni’s 280 year old commedia dell’arte farce, The Servant of Two Masters. It was a smash hit for the National Theatre in 2011, eclipsing Blake Morrison’s 2006 ‘The Man with Two Gaffers’ for Northern Broadsides, and has already seen numerous tours and revivals.
Bean’s version sets the story in early 1960s Brighton, at a time when skiffle was giving way to rock’n’roll and Beatlemania was breaking news. The text uses bursts of song that serve as links between scenes, and help to consolidate the complex, absurd storytelling.
Francis Henshall is down on his luck, and reduced to minesweeping drinks and cadging morsels from other people’s tables – and the occasional lump of mousetrap cheese. He succeeds in gaining employment of sorts as a lackey to two rather dodgy individuals, the self important Stanley Stubbers, and Rachel Crabbe. Rachel is masquerading as her own dead brother Roscoe, who as it turns out was murdered by Stanley, who is also Rachel’s boyfriend. Confused yet? That isn’t the half of it. Gang boss Charlie ‘The Duck’ Clench wants his daughter Pauline to marry Roscoe, but Pauline is in love with aspiring thespian Alan Dangle. In the grand old tradition of such things, these are not the only plot twists, and the gravitation of all these conflicting storylines leads to an endless supply of slapstick scenarios.
The play requires two things; a great deal of physical comedy and crack-shot vocal timing. Director Andy Fox-Hutchings has assembled a cast that, while a little uneven in places, contains some really strong performances that pull off the big set pieces with astonishing facility.
Jonathon Johnston as Francis carries the central thread of the story, and he is outstanding. His facility with slapstick (including one notable scene in which he has a fight with himself) is extraordinary, and it is a joy to watch the manic energy of his performance. One scene that will live long in the mind is his freezing when discovered with his head and shoulders in a dustbin in search of chips. Never can a man in a checked suit have looked more like a raiding badger.
Alex Wight is perfectly cast as Stanley Stubbers, and the juxtaposition of his attempted dignity against Francis’ mania is comedy gold. There is a distinguished company debut from Amelia Negus-Fancey as Pauline, and Ben Turner is gloriously over the top as her theatrical boyfriend Alan, while Lisa Buckley turns a good swagger in her reading of Rachel/Roscoe.
John McGinn’s set design makes very clever use of the stage, with elements that create a series of increasingly complex locations, including the interior of the Cricketer’s Arms pub, with its numerous entrances and exits, including a staircase down which David Clough’s doddery waiter Alfie repeatedly falls.
The musical interludes feature music composed by Sophie Kearney and Sian Peters (Peters also providing sound design for the show) and they are performed on the forestage to cover scene changes, whilst offering scene-by-scene recaps of the narrative.
This is a highly ambitious project, demanding technical precision and comedic skill, and the company execute it to great effect. The first act is a tad slow to get into its stride, with the opening scene in particular in need of a little more punch in its delivery, but once it gets going the play is immensely entertaining and full of laughter.
As is the way with much farce, the early stages are occupied largely with setting up the multifarious scenarios, which deliver their payoffs with increasing frequency as the play progresses. These tangled storylines collide in the theatrical equivalent of a multi-car pileup, and Fox-Hutchings orchestrates the mayhem with remarkable clarity.
One Man, Two Guvnors is at Chester Little Theatre until 21st March.
Jonathan Johnston as Francis and Lisa Buckley as Roscoe - Picture by Stephen Cain
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