One Man, Two Guvnors
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Cititour.com Review
Forget what you think you know (and probably hate) about British farce or slapstick. One Man, Two Guvnors, the latest theatrical import from London, defies expectations on many levels. It's easily the most hilarious show of the Broadway season, and could certainly catapult leading man James Corden to a stellar career on this side of the Atlantic.
Playwright Richard Bean has spun a wildly entertaining story, now set Brighton, England, in 1963, from Carlo Goldoni's 18th-century commedia dell'arte classic The Servant of Two Masters. Corden (pictured) plays Francis Henshall, a down-on-his-luck skiffle-band musician starving for a good meal and a good woman. To maximize his economic potential, he winds up becoming a guy Friday for two different employers. While Francis must keep his bosses from finding out about each other, both of them are trying to lay low because of murdered mobster Roscoe Crabbe. Rachel (Jemima Rooper), his twin sister, has disguised herself as Roscoe, who was slain by her lover, a posh twit named Stanley Stubbers (played to stiff-upper-lip perfection by Oliver Chris).
There's also Roscoe's dimwitted former fiancée (Claire Lams), the hammy actor to whom she's now betrothed (Daniel Rigby) and shaky, slow-moving 87-year-old waiter Alfie (the marvelously agile Tom Edden), who falls down stairs and gets knocked about as he helps Francis serve his guvs dinner. Director Nicholas Hytner, who usually fills his schedule with headier fare, treats the comedy seriously, and that's why it works so well. No one stumbles about halfheartedly; all the antics are smartly choreographed.
None more so than Corden's. Rarely offstage, he moves around with a lightness that also describes his performance. Whether interacting with the audience (beware if you sit in the first row), or tossing himself into a strenuous bit of physical comedy, he's always in the moment, someone the audience enjoys laughing with — and at — as he copes with whatever the play throws at him.
By Diane Snyder
Visit the Site
http://onemantwoguvnorsbroadway.com
Cast
James Corden, Oliver Chris, Jemima Rooper, Tom Edden, Martyn Ellis, Trevor Laird, Claire Lams, Fred Ridgeway, Daniel Rigby, Suzie Toase, Brian Gonzales, Eli James, Ben Livingston, Sarah Manton, Stephen Pilkington, David Ryan Smith, Natalie Smith
Open/Close Dates
Opening 4/6/2012
Closing 9/2/2012
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
Music Box Theatre
239 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
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