One Man, Two Guvnors is a surefire hit

Delightful: James Corden as Francis and Suzie Toase as Dolly in One Man, Two Guvnors
10 April 2012

This astonishing reworking of Carlo Goldoni's 18th century tale of mistaken identity and daft confusions isn't the sort of thing you expect to see at the National Theatre.

An outrageously broad comedy, albeit one studded with clever and occasionally surreal gags by its adaptor Richard Bean, it verges on pantomime.

Set not amid the piazzas and canals of Goldoni's native Venice but in Brighton in the Sixties, it's an inspired re-imagining. The central figure is Francis Henshall, a roguish and perpetually hungry chunk of flawed humanity, beautifully brought to life by James Corden, who radiates confidence and charm. Desperate for money, Francis takes whatever work he can get and finds himself employed by two gangsters. One is toffish Stanley Stubbers. The other is Rachel Crabbe, who's masquerading as her villainous (and dead) twin brother. We know their paths will cross - and know as well that Francis will do all he can to keep them apart.

This is the stuff of farce. A waiter (the elastic Tom Edden) falls downstairs several times. Members of the audience are enlisted to move an unwieldy trunk and look after the delicacies Francis plunders from his masters' plates. Trousers end up around characters' ankles.

Daniel Rigby does a hilarious, hyperbolic impression of a young man convinced it is his destiny to be an actor - or a poet. Goldoni, who is notoriously difficult to translate, exploited the conventions of commedia dell'arte, reforming it and heightening its vitality. Bean has done to Goldoni what Goldoni did to his forerunners. His writing luxuriates in the copiousness of comic tradition and honours the possibilities of improvisation, but is also packed with brilliantly original lines. While Oliver Chris as Stanley enjoys the best of these (and is sublime), it is Corden who has to sell the trickiest moments of physical comedy, and he does a delightful job of it, not least when interacting smartly with his public.

This is a show for lovers of accomplished buffoonery. The 20 minutes leading up to the interval are pure comic bliss, and although at times there is not quite enough pace, Nicholas Hytner's production, with a sharp design by Mark Thompson and infectious music by Grant Olding, bubbles over with humour. A surefire hit.

Until July 26, information
020 7452 3000.

One Man, Two Guvnors
National Theatre: Lyttelton
South Bank, SE1 9PX

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in