One Man, Two Guvnors

It was a delight to be invited back to Oswaldtwistle Players for their latest offering. Anyone yearning for a very 21st Century British take on an 18th Century Italian play (‘Servant of Two Masters’), set in 20th Century Brighton and presented in its full madcap glory on stage in Oswaldtwistle at the Civic Theatre, saw their dreams come true in fine style. A surprise hit when it was premiered in London, the play became something of an internet sensation during lockdown with the National Theatre’s series of ‘At Home’ recordings. This production captured all of the knockabout farce of both the Commedia dell’arte original and the smartly revamped humour of the brand new script, set in 1963. For director Rachel Bamford, this was clearly a labour of love and the combined talents of everyone at Ossie Players came together to make for a smashing night at the theatre. 

Enough care and effort had gone into giving an authentic flavour of the ’60s, with costumes, hairstyles, props and the welcome inclusion of some contemporary 1960s pop songs helping with the period setting. Everyone seemed to be wearing trousers which were were far too long but this amused rather than baffled me, so I shall say no more on this point. The opening scene helped to introduce us to most of the characters in an amusingly stilted and stagey fashion which I loved and which showed a real feeling for the script: at no point was the audience made to forget that this was to be a piece of pure theatre and that any idea of realism should be left at the door. 

Our hero, Francis Henshall (the titular ‘man with two guvnors’) takes centre stage throughout the play and from the off, the audience can dispense with the idea of a ‘fourth wall’, as Francis - and others - bring the audience into the action with collective tongues very much in cheek: at no point are we ever to forget that this is a very theatrical production, stuffed with good humour and implausibly farcical carryings-on. Matthew Taylor was an inexhaustible force of nature as Francis, the audience’s friend throughout the show, guiding us through the madcap nonsense and interacting with everyone in the auditorium to great effect. Matthew bounced onto the stage from his first entrance as a ball of energy and didn’t let up all evening. I have to say that I thought that there could have been a little more light and shade in his performance, rather than the ‘permanently in top gear’, noisily rambunctious exuberance of his characterisation. Nevertheless, acting as the glue which holds the whole farce together, Matthew did a sterling job which much have been physically very demanding.

The gender-bending role of Rachel/Roscoe was very well played by Eleanor Smith who amused me throughout, making no attempt to hide the fact that this was a ‘female in disguise’ and making the comically ridiculous nature of the script all the more humorous. Great work Eleanor!Charlie Clench (aka ’The Duck’) was ably brought to life by Steve Jackson as perhaps the most harmless of gangsters/ scrap metal dealers ever to grace the stage, complete with the least likely cockney accent ever heard in Oswaldtwistle: this only added to the fun for me though and was much appreciated. Harry - the dodgy solicitor - was played by John Dewhurst with his very individual variety of cheek and charm, and saucy secretary Dolly was brilliantly played by Stephanie Johnson (and her runaway cleavage). Stephanie’s plain speaking sassiness was a delight and Dolly was clearly an audience favourite: quite rightly so. Pauline Clench and Alan Dangle - a match made in heaven - were effectively brought to life by Tianna Copeland and Kyle Cartmell. Two characters who were not overburdened with an excess of brainpower, Tianna and Kyle did a good job of bringing the comical pair to life. I think I would have preferred Alan to have been a little more over the top and ‘theatrical’ as the would-be actor who thinks he’s a lot better than he is but that’s just personal choice. The couple worked very well together and provided a lot of laughs.

The always reliable David Pilkington brought experience - and the best accent of the evening - to provide a solid presence to proceedings as likeable Lloyd, ex-con and pub owner and it was great to see him adding theatrical weight to the production. Matt Whalley provided a very interesting take on the villainous Stanley, one of the ‘Two Guvnors’ of the title. Matt brought an interesting haircut and a snappy no-nonsense impatience to the part and his relationship with Francis was well realised. Slyly stealing the show from under the noses of the rest of the cast, Malcolm Binns as Alfie shuffled around superbly to make easy comic work of the set piece restaurant scene, ably assisted by one ‘Christine Patterson’, a volunteer from from the audience: no dear reader, your eyes didn’t deceive you, that was indeed the ever versatile Lesley Jackson gracing the stage in disguise! Able support to the main cast was given by David Gorton, Andrew Batt and Joyce Teasdale in a number of smaller roles. 

This was a delightful production of a very well written comedy which makes great use of its historical source material to craft a very knowing and contemporary farce. This was a heartfelt and energetic production which thoroughly amused a very appreciative audience on opening night. I did perhaps think that the staging was a little over-fussy, leading to some lengthy scene changes (maybe a more minimalist approach, with some crafty lighting effects may have avoided long and cumbersome set changes?) That said, the scenery changes did give the opportunity for some ’60s pop tunes which the audience lapped up. Non-identical twins; gangland murder; 'Brixton!!'; comical soup incidents; audience participation... this play has it all. It was also a fitting end to the evening to see the indefatigable Matthew Taylor and the deliciously delectable Stephanie Johnson paired up together to make an especially satisfactory happy ending. 

My thanks to go to all Ossie Players for inviting me to see this refreshing production and for making Craig and myself very welcome. It was most pleasing to see Ossie Players providing a great example of local theatre at its best: looking forward to the next one!  

 

      

 

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