by arrangement with Origin Theatrical on behalf of Samuel French, ltd.
An English adaptation of the 1743 Italian Comedy by Carlo Goldoni, “The Servant of Two Masters”, the play replaces the Italian period setting of the original with Brighton in 1963. The original play, starring James Corden, opened at the National Theatre in 2011, toured in the UK, and then opened in the West End in November 2011, with a subsequent Broadway opening in 2012. The show received widespread critical acclaim, being called "A triumph of visual and verbal comedy. One of the funniest productions in the National's history.” And being described as “one of the most side-splittingly hilarious productions ever to be staged in London". The show won Best Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for 2011, and Corden took home the Tony and Drama Desk Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play.
THE TEAM!
THE CAST!
REVIEWS!
THEATRE MATTERS!
Jennifer Beasley
Mayhem, mischief and amorous misadventure visit Piano On Swan as this outstanding crew of actors and musicians perform one of the great British comedies of the twentieth century.
I’m so very glad that I accepted the invitation from J & L Entertainment, run by Johno and Lynette White, for this new take on One Man, Two Guvnors, as both my companion and I have never laughed so hard.
This is the show that set James Corden onto film and theatre glory and won him a shiny Tony Award in 2012.
Based on the Italian absurdist play, Il servitore di due padroni, or The Servant of Two Masters, written in 1743 by Carlo Gordoni, British playwright Richard Bean, who wrote this in 2011, has updated this comedy of errors to 1963 Brighton, England.
The premise involves fast talking and starving Francis Henshall, who takes up first one employment as the ‘heavy’ for Roscoe Crabbe, a small time gangster, and then, hedging his bets so that he can get a feed, with upper class twat Stanley Stubbers, who holds a dark secret and is in love with Crabbe’s twin sister, Rachel. Henshall, not wanting to lose out on the extra paycheck, separates the two employers as much as he can, despite the antics of retired mobster Charlie The Duck, whose ‘I don’t understand’ bright spark of a daughter, Pauline, wisely doesn’t want to marry gay Crabbe, who isn’t what he seems. Like all good comedies, this story is peppered with a complicated love plot between Pauline her amour, over-the-top actor Alan, his father, Harry Dangle, a solicitor that works for Charlie The Duck, and fires off Latin like a machine gun, and mob bookkeeper Dolly, who catches the eye of Henshall, who, once fed, is extremely motivated to whisk the sultry Dolly off to Majorca to explore…things.
Daragh Wills (School of Rock) maintains the frantic energy required for Henshall throughout this marvellous performance. I have to commend both the director Johno White and the setting at Piano On Swan, where such an unusual environment as an intimate bar brings the action almost on top of you. A great use of the setting and available space really transforms this play. The physicality of the actors translated in a tight-knit weave of acting units, as improv, witty repartee and Wills own commanding personality glued this production into a finely honed weapon of humour.
There’s a live skiffle band which plays the pumping soundtrack (original on Spotify), as well as audience interaction, a tap dance, a singing trio and more switch-a-roos than you can point a finger at!
Zoe Rose (Cruel Intentions) as Rachel Crabbe handles herself well, in this wild and wacky comedy, as her role was the hardest to nail down and great support by the other actors highlighted her believability. As this was opening night, I’m sure any stiffness will resolve.
Not only directing but acting too is Johno White (Mary Poppins), who vies for best performance with Wills. Playing the snobbish and deceitful Stanley Stubbins, his gormlessness gleams through at every encounter, peppering his speech with boarding school ‘joys’ and his angst about his ‘crime’. A very likeable character as he struts around like a nine pinned ninny, ordering around Wills with no care for his silly actions.
Bringing a bit of raunch to the role of Dolly is Sharon Wills (&Juliet). Supported by the low-down musical riff from Darcy Gurney and his band, and the technical prowess of Shan Kestan, this added another layer of humour with every entrance Dolly makes during the second act as she bats her eyelashes at Wills.
This is one of those shows where all the crew are so finely tuned you feel dreadful if you leave anyone out. The contained snobby performance of Alan (a brilliant Dylan Mazurek) as he monologues endlessly about buses and then does a gut wrenchingly funny body tapping in time to the music is a wonderful compliment to the vagueness of his beloved, the wide-eyed Pauline (Emily Toby from Grease).
Andrew Roberts (Into The Woods) is astoundingly good as the mobster Charlie The Duck, and his sidekick, shifty lawyer Harry Dingle is acted with cheek by Mark Monroe, a fabulous veteran of stage and screen and who I loved in Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang. He also did a hilarious turn as Garth the waiter, managing to steal that scene right out from under Wills.
Flowing from both the band and the floor, Lloyd, owner of The Cricketer’s Arms, where much of the story is set, is a stabilising influence on the play. Sujanthan Satkunarajah (&Juliet), bedecked in a lovely pinstriped white suit, performs in a measured and calm manner, thus allowing the mayhem to flow around him, and giving those much-needed pauses that allows the audience to take a breath. Often people overlook the importance of a calmer character, but they are integral to a performance that whirls around, through and out the door as much as this one does.
And just when you think things wouldn’t get any dafter, the delicious and dopey Tony Burge (Mamma’s Boys) as 87-year-old-thinks-he’s-86-but-has-a-supercharged-pacemaker as Alfie. Just don’t let him carry any knives and forks on plates or they’ll end up next door.
Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. Do not miss this at all!
And if you are looking for a good feed to sustain you before this two-and-a-half-hour show then I recommend Casa Mariotti across the road, and then a drink poured by Targe at the bar at Piano On Swan. One must conserve one’s energy!
5 fat lamb chop stars! Go J & L entertainment!!!
THE SCOOP
JACK BENGOUGH
With Melbourne International Comedy Festival now in full swing, venues all across the greater metro are hosting a vast range of productions. Arriving at the Piano on Swan in Richmond, it was surprising to find that there was no backroom theatre space, similar to somewhere like the Motley Bauhaus in Carlton.
Instead, the performance space for new company J&L Presents’ One Man, Two Guvnors is the bar itself. Not only did the production defy expectations with its choice of space, but this choice was only the first in a series that would produce an incredible night of farcical comedy.
As the title suggests, One Man Two Guvnors is the story of a man attempting to juggle working for two people at the same time. The original script by Richard Bean was inspired by the classic Commedia dell’Arte play A Servant to Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni.
In this reimagining of the tale, Francis Henshall (Daragh Wills) finds himself working for the gangster Roscoe Crabbe (Zoe Rose) and in-hiding upper-class criminal Stanley Stubbers (Johno White).
Meanwhile, Roscoe attempts to wed Pauline Clench (Emilie Toby), under pressure from her father, the mobster Charlie “The Duck” (Andrew Roberts). But Pauline would rather be wed to Alan Dangle (Dylan Mazurek).
Many more convoluted layers to this plot are better seen than read. But trust that they are less confusing than they are delightful to witness unfold.
The most important thing to know when going into One Man, Two Guvnors is that it is indeed hilarious. The whole cast is constantly rattling off witty prose from the script and performing elaborate skits that always go at least one notch more ridiculous than you would expect.
There is also a fantastic improvisational quality to the whole thing. In particular, from leading performer Daragh Wills, who literally shines the whole way through. Wills has beads of sweat running down their face, not even halfway through the first act. They run about the venue, taking advantage of every comedic opportunity possible.
A particularly remarkable moment shone through when the technical operator, Emma Venzke (whose work was otherwise exemplary), fumbled the timing of a particular sound cue. This led to Daragh Wills and Johno White break character for a moment to heckle her before returning to the action of the scene. Moments like these occur so perfectly spontaneously that it wouldn’t be a surprise if they were actually part of the script.
Director and J&L Presents Founder Johno White has a clear intention towards staging their productions in found spaces rather than theatres. It’s no accident that One Man, Two Guvnors is being performed in the middle of a bar. In fact, it is a stroke of genius.
For the majority of the show, the bar space makes for very immersive viewing as it complements the setting of the play. Actors regularly grab drinks off the bar top and seat themselves around the band in the corner.
The remainder of the time, the space is pushed beyond its perceived limits. It pulls stunts off that, from where the audience is sitting, doesn’t even seem possible.
Before the show began, one may have had doubts about the space working given the unusual sightlines and cramped walkways. But by the end, those doubts were surely totally dashed.
In a Comedy Festival season full of many spectacular offerings, One Man, Two Guvnors is a show not to be missed.
WHAT'S THE SHOW
OSCAR BRAY
Melbourne is no stranger to unusual, intimate show venues, but it takes a lot of creativity, planning and passion to make full use of unconventional stages. This is especially true for a play like 1 Man 2 Guvnors by Richard Bean, which opened at London’s National Theatre and was a major career stepping-stone for James Cordon. As a company, J&L Presents clearly rises to challenges like this, explaining that “each production [of theirs] is carefully tailored to its surroundings, with the venue itself becoming a character that informs and enhances the narrative”.
For this show, their chosen ‘character’ is Piano On Swan in Richmond, and an otherwise unassuming bar space is converted into a traverse stage. The small audience takes up half the walkway in front of the bar and a little nook close to the entrance, the tech operator looms above the bar and needs a ladder to get down, and the only exits are out the front door and up a small flight of stairs to the toilets. In short, there’s not a lot of space and plenty of obstacles for the actors to navigate – and they do so beautifully.
The play itself is set in Brighton in 1963, and follows the unemployed working-class Francis Henshall (played by Daragh Wills). The character quickly becomes a dogsbody to two employers: gangster Roscoe Crabb (Zoe Rose), and white-collar criminal Stanley Stubbers (Johno White). As Francis struggles to meet the demands of two masters, other subplots pile onto the whirlwind hilarity, including a twin sister posing as her dead brother; a ‘love triangle’ between Crabb, aspiring actor Alan (Dylan Mazurek) and dimwitted socialite Pauline (Emilie); and Francis falling for the feminist bookkeeper Dolly (Sharon Wills). Trust me – it’s much easier to follow when you watch it unfold over two hours, with plenty of slapstick, wordplay and melodrama in between.
The script itself was popular fifteen years ago for a reason. It was inspired by an Italian commedia dell’arte play from 1743 and takes a lot of inspiration from classic British period comedies from the likes of P. G. Wodehouse. However, the writing sprinkles in modernisms that add to the comedy instead of distracting from it. The swearing, gender swap shenanigans, fourth wall breaking and audience participation keep the gags constant, fresh and fun. The ensemble cast’s perfect sense of timing augments every joke; they aren’t afraid to let awkward silences sit because they make the moments of chaos even more uproarious.
J&L Presents’ love of performance space shows to the fullest, as every inch of the small barroom is used. Actors stand on the bar, fall behind it, rush out onto the street and back in, haul heavy trunks and trolleys every which way – everything is frenetic and chaotic in the best way possible. The blocking was also impressive because aside from a scant few times when some people’s faces weren’t visible, nothing was missed and every visual joke was clear to see. Wills is a fantastic lead getting laughs from the minute of walking onstage and had us in the palm of their hand. The other cast members fantastically embody their characters, understanding that ‘more is more’ and pushing their mannerisms and their voices to the maximum. The comedy was tight and well-planned, but also had a fluidity which made so many moments feel improvisational and any gaffes like additions to the fun. Everyone was enjoying themselves so much that they could do no wrong.
After this show, I can’t imagine 1 Man, 2 Guvnors being performed on a larger, traditional stage. The closeness cultivated between the audience and the characters feels integral to the show working as well as it does. There was a constant sense of excitement, not knowing which character was going to pop out of where, or how things could possibly get worse for our comic heroes. When I went, the audience ranged from very young kids to older people, and from the conversations I heard in the interval and afterwards, everyone seemed to have a fantastic time. This production is intimate, clever, packed with laugh-out-loud moments, and a perfect theater experience for most if not all audiences.
I TELL YOU WHAT I THINK
ALEX FIRST
If you want a riotous night out, head to Piano on Swan at 215 Swan Street in Richmond to see One Man, Two Guvnors, where slapstick humour abounds.
This play with live music is undoubtedly one of the silliest, funniest things going around as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
It really is a highly amusing hoot.
An adaptation by English writer Richard Bean of a 1743 Italian comedy by Carlo Goldoni, it is off the wall absurdity involving a man with a voracious appetite.
The original Italian period setting has been replaced with the seaside town of Brighton, south of London.
One Man, Two Guvnors, starring James Cordon, opened at the National Theatre in London in 2011, before transferring to the West End and Broadway.
The setting is 1963. We are witness to the engagement party of aspiring actor Alan Dangle to Pauline Clench.
She is the dim-witted daughter of local mobster Charlie “The Duck” Clench.
Pauline was to be married to small time hood Roscoe Crabbe in a deal struck by The Duck involving 6,000 pounds and a house.
Only Roscoe, who Pauline never cared for – because it was to be a marriage of convenience, as he was gay – is no longer on the scene, as he was killed.
Now, Francis Henshall, who has been fired from his skiffle band and is minder to Roscoe turns up to collect the 6,000 pounds.
But everything turns pear-shaped when Roscoe miraculously appears to claim Pauline and the money.
Truth is, it is not Roscoe, but his twin sister Rachel, disguised as Roscoe, who is in love with upper class twit Stanley Stubbers. Stanley is on the run for knocking off Roscoe.
Despite The Duck acknowledging that Roscoe has first rights to his daughter, Alan Dangle vows to fight for Pauline.
Alan’s father is The Duck’s crooked solicitor Harry Dangle, who is extremely put out by this most unfortunate turn of events.
The key character in the play is Francis Henshall, who seizes the opportunity to work for two bosses (or guvnors), Roscoe (in the guise of Rachel) and Stanley Stubbers.
Collecting two pay packets, without one knowing about the other, what could possibly go wrong? Plenty! And, I assure you, it does.
Add to that the fact that Francis develops a soft spot for The Duck’s bookkeeper, Dolly and hijinks ensue.
Events unravel at The Cricketers’ Arms pub, owned by Lloyd Boateng, an ex-con friend of Charlie’s.
There, the frazzled head waiter is Gareth and it is the first day on the job for fragile octogenarian Alfie.
Let’s just call this for what is it, a comedy of errors with no shortage of hilarious (and unexpected) audience participation, which goes down a treat.
The whole shebang kicks off with a lyrical and melodic musical number performed by a skiffle band (a blend of folk, blues and jazz), including a washboard player.
Several other equally evocative, high-energy songs are interspersed with the action.
The tone of One Man, Two Govnors is reminiscent of the Carry On movies, popularised in the late ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s.
I offer the highest of praise for new theatre company, J&L Presents, the front man of which is director Johno White (also an actor here), who has done a mighty job.
His mantra is to shatter the conventions of traditional theatre-making.
He is out to curate immersive performances in non-traditional venues and spaces that intimately reflect the narrative and themes of each show.
With One Man, Two Govnors he has done just that and how!
Piano on Swan is a delightful, 50-seat cocktail and piano bar that the cast and crew have taken over to stage this mayhem so joyously until 15th April.
Daragh Wills is a comic force as Francis Henshall.
They literally throw themselves into the role with reckless abandon.
I loved what they were able to achieve with their character, getting the vocal crowd on side from the get go.
They are an excellent ad-libber.
It is a truly great, hyper energetic performance – physical comedy at its best – that sees them sweat up a storm.
In fact, a big thumbs up to all 12 cast members, but I would also like to single out Andrews Roberts, who steps so effortlessly into the part of the local hoodlum.
Whenever he appeared, his depth of vocalisation, along with the way he carried himself, brought with it authority and authenticity.
He provided the play with highly appropriate and necessary muscle, so huge plaudits to him.
Exaggeration and exhortation are the keys to what makes One Man, Two Govnors work and work so well. The players display that in spades.
What also works so well are the sound effects, seen to by stage manager Emma Venske.
In fact, even when a cue is missed, it leads to a side-splitting, off the cuff interchange.
This is what I adore about live theatre. Some of the best moments are not scripted.
Another strength in One Man, Two Govnors is the colourful and redolent costuming, including jaunty caps and waistcoats for the interchangeable band members.
Two and a half hours, including interval, this is a beauty and augers well for the future of J&L Presents.
