Sunday, April 22, 2012

One Man, Two Guvnors Review

One Man, Two Guvnors
Adelphi Theatre, London

Due to work I am publishing the next few reviews a while after I saw these productions, and my first review is on One Man, Two Guvnors with James Corden. I remember seeing an open air production of Servant of Two Masters by a local company, The Maskers, and quite enjoyed it. I love a good farcical play, and although I have not seen one for the last few years I am a sucker for pantomime, which is based on the plays style Commedia dell'arte. Therefore, this critically acclaimed adaptation, One man, two guvnors, suited me perfectly.

After her brother gets killed by her lover Stanley Stubbs (Oliver Chris), Rachel Crabbe (Jemima Rooper) decides to dress up as her dead relative. She then goes to collect the money that was going to be inherited by her brother from Charlie Clench (Fred Ridgeway), the father of the girl, Pauline Clench (Claire Lams), who was betrothed to the sibling,. She would then use the money to escape with Stanley. However, since the death of Rachel's brother Pauline has been engaged  to Harry Dangle (Martyn Ellis), and when Rachel arrives as her supposedly living brother, tensions arise. Meanwhile Stanley Stubbs, whilst on the run from the law, turns up in town un-beknowest to Rachel. Amongst all this Rachel's servant, Francis Henshall (James Corden), desperate for food decides to work for Stanley Stubbs as well. Whilst serving both masters without them knowing, he finds every opportunity to eat and earn some extra wages.

The play follows the same story as Servant of Two Masters, the exception being that it is not set in 18th century Venice, but in 1960s Brighton. Instead of playing stock characters derived from 18th century characters like Harlequin, the actors play stock 'British' characters, from the received pronunciation speaking gentleman to the cockney mobster.

James Corden was certainly the heart of the show, as the overweight, Harlequinesque, Francis Henshall. A number of time he would broke the fourth wall to speak and ad-lib to the audience. Some offered sandwiches when he asked for one (though he added that it was not an actual question). He even brought some audience members onto the stage to help him carry a heavy box indoors and hide some food for him to eat later. He was a force to contend with at times, but he acts the innocent man child to the point where he can easily be forgiven for any of this.

But James Corden is not the only crowning point of this production. Both Guvnors are such a joy to watch. Oliver Chris is the Hugh Laurie of the play as the jolly and gullible Stanley Stubbs. Jemima Rooper gives her all playing Rachel Crabbe, who succeeds in fooling everyone disguised as her short tempered brother. As someone who is short in height her performance was very believable. With these two personalities it was fun seeing Corden take advantage of Stubbs whilst putting up with Crabbe's outbursts.

Some of the supporting characters were enjoyable to watch. However if there was a downside to the transfer of Commedia Dell'arte to 1960s Britain, it is that the cockney mobster stock characters felt a bit jarring, especially when these characters were the followers of Charlie Clench, the updated version of Pantalone from the original text. The dilemma between Pantalone, his daughter Clarice (Pauline Clench in this production), and Silvio (Harry Dangle), played a large part in the Servant of Two Masters and because of that I did connect with them.

However the characters that represented them in this play spent less time on stage, due to the ever present storyline between Henshall and his two Guvnors, and therefore I was un able to sympathise with them. It did not even help when Pauline Clench is meant to play the damsel in distress like Clarice, to which it is assumed she must be presented as dumb. Combined with her accent, hearing her say "I don't understand" half a dozen times soon got annoying. At first I liked the way Harry Dangle was portrayed as an actor, which allowed him to act the romantic hero of the play. However the fact that he is only seen a few times meant that there was no way to expand upon his character.

The production did a great job showing Brighton on a set that reminisces with trompe l'oeil scenic design, whilst the colourful costumes made the characters largr than life. Another high point, or points, were a number of acts that took place between each scene, a number of which were performed by The Craze. This talented group was very entertaining and gave a musical edge when one would assume that the production could not get any better.

I am finishing this as the 2012 Olivier Awards are coming to an end, and it looks as if I must eat my words in thinking that One Man, Two Guvnors would win Best New Play. However, I did see Collaborators last year as part of NT Live and I would say that both plays are equally great. However, I still remember the pure hilarity and entertainment of One Man, Two Guvnors two months later and I would give this a low Top Price.

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