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One show, too many laughs to count
Loves sweet dream: Francis, in the generous shape of James Corden, whispers sweet nothings, as opposed to his usual nothings, to the love of his life Dolly, delightfully played by Suzie Toase. One Man, Two Govnors New Alexandra Theatre ***** ANYONE who
fails to become helpless with laughter at least once in this National
Theatre production will probably be leaving in a box. It is glorious, unadulterated, remarkably silly,
witty, irreverent, brilliant, mad, slapstick, banal, sophisticated,
risqué, good clean fun. The most fun had in a theatre for years in fact.
There are touches of Bottom, of Black Adder, Fawlty Towers,
Benny Hill, Carry On and panto all rolled into a wonderful script
from Richard Bean which is all brought to life by a faultless cast led
by James Corden as Frances Henshall, the hapless catalyst for endless
confusion and disaster. For those who are interested, it is based on the
1746 play The Servant of Two Masters by Venetian playwright Carlo
Goldini, which, possibly, may have lost, or even gained, just a tad in
the translation although, to be fair, the basic plot is still there and
Cordon's check suit is perhaps paying homage to his part's original
character of Truffaldino, the Harlequin comic servant of the Italian
Commedia dell'Arte tradition. The action has moved from Venice to the Brighton of 1963 with old time villain Charlie “The Duck” Clench (Fred Ridgeway) marrying his brainless daughter Pauline (Claire Lams) off to aspiring act-ore, friends, Romans, countrymen and all that Alan Dangle, (Daniel Rigby) the son of Charlie's bent solicitor Harry Dangle (Martyn Ellis). With bookkeeper Dolly (Suzie Toase), who is in pursuit of a man, notably Francis keeping everyone, and the family skeletons, in order.
Pauline was to have married her fiancée, the
homosexual gangster Roscoe Crabbe, as a favour to his father, except
Roscoe's been murdered by his twin sister's boyfriend so Alan has been
brought of the bench as a sort of sub groom so the sausage rolls don't
go to waste.
The result is high class farce with double
entendres, visual gags galore, one liners at every turn, knees and boots
in groins, a one man fight from Corden, fingers in eyes and some
of the most imaginative decriptions ever heard on stage,. Our jolly, pervy, ex-public school toff Stanley,
talking about the rather buxom bookkeeper Dolly going to Majorca
alone, advises us: “You can't trust a Spaniard alone with a Swiss roll.” Or for despair how about feeling like “a floral
clock in winter” and we are also enlightened upon the speed of love
passing through marriage and the usefulness, or otherwise of nuns We even have Dolly telling us, this is 1963 remember, how within 20 years she predicts we will have a woman prime minister who will bring equality and justice for all. That went down particularly well. Nor do the audience escape unscathed with two
being dragged up to move a heavy trunk and another – a plant in this
case – employed at the end of the first act in a restaurant scene where
Corden is doling out food to his two employers in separate rooms while
stashing away as much as he can for himself in a soup tureen she is
holding, hiding her behind a statue between courses. Waiter Alfie, (Tom Edden), 86 on his first day
and unsteady on his feet, hands, or indeed any other bit, is a slow
moving star in the scene even getting smashed straight through the
scenery by an opening door.
The audience are engaged regularly with Corden at
one point getting involved in a long conversation after asking if anyone
had a sandwich he could have which brought forth offers of chocolates,
crisps, a humus sandwich and a ham and cucumber bagette. Henshall is a failed washboard player in a skiffle band which gives us a chance to have a skiffle band both on stage and providing all the music. A nice touch is a real 1960s dance hall setting before the start and during the interval with the The Craze, a modern beat combo with drums, two guitars and bass, playing in true skiffile style, complete with washboard, then, in the interval, early 60s rock to get those audience feet atapping. Just to add to the novelty during scene changes
Corden appears on the xylophone, Oliver Chris comes on to play car horns
and Trevor Laird, who plays Lloyd Boatang, a celebrity and favourite of
the gentlemen of Parkhurst apparently, who gives us a touch of calypso
on the steel drums. The timing throughout is superb with Corden, who
is remarkably agile for such a . . . comfortable frame, holding
the audience in the palm of his hand, Chris striding through his lines
with military, or at least OTC, precision and Rigby a wonderfully ham,
aspiring Thespian leaping into actorial position before every
Olivieresque utterance while the rest never miss a beat or waste a line. Nicholas Hytner's direction keeps up a cracking
pace and in truth, at three hours long including the 15 minute interval,
this is one that feels far too short Whether this is pantomime for adults, Carry on
Carlo, a modernisation of the Commedia dell'Arte tradition or any other
artistic of academic description you can think off matters not a jot. It
is glorious, wonderful, unmissable and uniquely British fun. To
22-10-11. Roger Clarke
Master
Class of Mayhem
RICHARD BEANS
masterful adaptation of Carlo
Goldini's The Servant of Two Masters
steamrolled into Birmingham last night to a packed and very vocal house.
It did not disappoint.
The original play, written in 1746, was a late example of Commedia Dell ‘ Arte - a form of theatre based on highly improvised observations of clearly defined society ‘characters' that an audience could immediately relate to. Francis feels the need to beat himself up about the dilemmas surrounding his life with that most British of weapons - a dustbin lid Bumbling servants, roguish
masters, lily livered lovers, plotting maids, foppish posh gents - all
the ingredients were there and openly ripe for parody. There were no
central ‘heroes' , more an assortment of well
drawn characters and situations. Adaptor Richard Bean has
propelled the story forward in time to 1963 - gaining more accessibility
for a modern audience but losing none of the original style or
intention. This tour comes on the back of the play's world premiere at
The Lyttleton Theatre in May 2011 Essentially, the story
revolves around an unemployed man suddenly finding himself with two
jobs. As he struggles to multi - task (as most men apparently do)he
meets an array of diverse characters , each beautifully drawn out. A
‘nice but dim' Sloane ranger, a fantastically bumbling and ancient
Waiter, a thrusting thespian, a red faced Latin quoting lawyer , a
ballsy strumpet, a not so bright daughter, a Calypso lover and a lady in
a man's suit make up a rogues gallery of the highest (and funniest)
order. In these celebrity obsessed
times, it can't be denied that a huge draw of this play is it's star -
James Corden. The run has all but sold out and that has to be largely
down to the pulling power of this likeable TV comedian. A shame, because
the play stands on it own on every level but even good plays need help,
it seems, to sell tickets these days. All too often, ‘stars' are
drafted in to fill seats but they are actually miscast or out of their
depth in the role.
This is far from the case
here. Corden is mesmorising as the laddish central character, Francis
Henshall. He fills every second of stage time with spot on delivery, pin
point comic timing and moments of physical comedy that have the audience
in stitches. His ‘self beating' scene is disturbingly funny. On top of
all that, is his genuine rapport with the audience who begin on his side
and stay there until the end. This is, however, no one man
show, performances across the board are outstanding. Daniel Rigby (Alan
Dangle) manages to encapsulate every perception of a ‘luvvie Actor'
- postulating and over annunciating at every opportunity. Oliver Chris
as posher than Pimms yuppie, Stanley Stubbers,
is impeccable and stylishly funny. . Tom
Edden (Alfie) plays the boggle eyed, permanently confused,
doddering old waiter to perfection - forever being hit on the head with
swinging doors, bumping into walls and turning up his pace maker
. . . pure Norman Wisdom and no worse for that. Suzie
Toase (Dolly), Trevor Laird (Lloyd) Fred Ridgeway (Charlie
), Claire Lams (Pauline ), Martyn Ellis (Harry),Jemima
Rooper (Rachel)and David Benson (Gareth ) are equally
strong in cast with no weak links. As well as classic trouser
dropping, door banging farce, the play delivers a nod to pantomime.
Audience members come onstage to be gently humiliated - all handled with
great skill by Corden. Set changes were covered
cleverly using a live band to fill the gaps. Main characters also
delivered their own party pieces - from xylophone playing to car horn
bipping - whilst the set was changed behind them. An Innovative and
thoroughly entertaining use of ‘dead time' This is theatre of the highest
standard. Laugh out loud funny, beautifully acted and sharply written.
If you are going , you are in for a treat. If you are thinking about it,
don't leave it too long. Tickets are virtually gone. One Man , Two Govnors is
a National Theatre production, Directed by Nicholas Hyntner. It runs
until Saturday October 22nd.
**** WHEN I was heading for my seat in the
dress circle at the Alex, shoulder-to-shoulder with eager customers, and
a buzz in the air,it was pretty obvious we were in for a special night.
And so it proved. This sell-out show was a hoot from start to
finish, with more audience participation than your average pantomime,
and whatever the plot was didn't really matter. It's tempting to call Richard Bean's adaptation
of Carlo Goldoni's classic Italian tale, The Servant of Two Masters, a
one man show, because James Corden gives an incredible performance
throughout and rarely seems to be off the stage...even when a 'double'
is racing around in one scene. But the star, of Gavin and Stacey fame, would be
the first to admit that he is helped by a top-notch cast in a show
packed with humour, slap-stick, sex and drama. Corden plays Francis Henshall, trying to
satisfy two bosses in 1960s Brighton, and landing in all kind of
scrapes....not least of which involve some members of the audience. Was the young lady lured on stage from the stalls
a genuine customer, for instance. Most of us thought so and gasped at
some of her tricky moments, but when she was suddenly covered from head
to foot in thick foam it was fair to assume she was a 'plant'. Clever
stuff. During the cooking scene there were amazing
contributions from Tom Edden as the ancient waiter, Alfie, knocked from
pillar to post as he staggered through in and out kitchen doors. Top marks, too, for Fred Ridgeway (Charlie 'The
Duck' Clench), Jemima Rooper (Rachel Crabbe), Trevor Laird (Lloyd
Boateng), Daniel Rigby (Alan Dangle), busty Suzie Toase (Dolly) and
Martyn Ellis (Harry Dangle). Paul Marston
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