One Man, Two Guvnors

Synopsis

It’s Brighton, England in 1963, and the mood is very hip and change is in the air. Lovable buffoon, Francis Henshall, wants to make his mark, but his insatiable appetites get in the way. Having recently been fired from a skiffle band, he finds himself employed by a small-time gangster Roscoe Crabbe, who is in Brighton to collect a fee from his fiancee’s gangster father. However, Roscoe is really Rachel, disguised as her own twin brother, who is in love with Stanley (Roscoe’s killer) who, in turn, becomes Francis’s other ‘guvnor.’ With mounting confusion, Francis goes out of his way to serve both bosses in this madcap, hilarious farce, infused with much physical comedy, audience participation, bawdy humor, and a live skiffle band on stage. 

This is Richard Bean’s adaptation of The Servant of Two Masters by 18th-century Italian commedia dell-arte playwright, Carlo Goldoni. Commedia dell’arte was an early form of Italian theater where players would perform character types, often improvising a given premise, with various performance art such as music to entertain the audience in between scenes. One Man, Two Guvnors is in this same style, but using the mid-mod the early 60s as the setting. It’s cool; it’s shameless; it’s innocent; it’s bawdy! You’ll have a hilariously good time!