One Man, Two Guvnors [Review]

***** out of *****

A National Theatre Live production, set in 1963, Brighton. "One Man, Two Guvnors" is a comedic tale of James Corden's character, Francis Henshall, an ex skiffle muso who seeks employment as a minder of a young woman disguised as her murdered dizygotic twin, Roscoe, (unknown to her) as well as her posh toff lover.

I've been to a few theatre productions in the last year, and this, unlike others, never had me thinking "is the interval coming any time soon?" or "this must be finishing soon, surely?". Don't get me wrong, the other performances I've also viewed such as "The Nutcracker", "Frankenstein" and "The Cherry Orchard" all of which I really enjoyed, particularly "Frankenstein", "One Man, Two Guvnors" is up there at the top of the list.

The auditorium was full, a sold out screen. Broadcasting live to over 150 different cinemas across Europe and America, I wish I was in London to view it live properly. However, I was in one of the 150 cinemas, but despite this, the atmosphere was fantastic. The audience were laughing and clapping pretty much throughout the whole performance.

James Corden provided an exciting improvisational act as well as his scripted parts, almost stealing the show, if it weren't for Tom Edden's character, the eccentric waiter, Alfie, who in every moment he was on the stage had the audience in complete hysterics, including at the end during the curtain call.

Fine acting by Polly Conwa, had the audience fooled, posing as an audience member herself [named Christine Patterson], as Corden hauled her on stage to play an extra in his aid to serve his two guvnors dinner whilst attempting to maintain his secret of working for both of them simultaneously as well as thieving portions of their meals, using the faux audience extra as his accomplice. A true sample of superb and convincing acting.

Each character provided their own unique flair that contributes to this terrific production. Besides characters already mentioned, you've also got Dolly and her sass, Stanley Stubbers snobby personality, Alan Dangle with his actor wannabe charm, Harry Dangle with his intellectual law jargon and Pauline with her blonde bimbo act.

A production by Richard Bean, it is really worth trying to catch a performance, although shows are sold out it is still possible to get hold of day tickets. There isn't just the performance of the play to enjoy either, but also the band "The Craze" that perform not only at the beginning before the show, but also in transitions between scenes, and they are also not to be missed.