One Man, Two Guvnors

A glorious celebration of the best of British comedy, a unique laugh-out-loud mix of satire, slapstick, skiffle music and sparkling one-liners, New Theatre presents Richard Bean’s acclaimed comedy, One Man, Two Guvnors, for a limited season from 22 March 2023.

Francis Henshall is so hungry. He’s also unemployed. He needs a job, pronto. Stuck in the seedy and slightly disreputable English seaside town of Brighton, an opportunity arises to become ‘minder’ to an East-End gangster, Roscoe Crabbe, who’s travelled down from London to reclaim a debt from his fiancée’s dad.

At the same time, never letting an opportunity go begging, Francis is also running errands around town for a posh twit named Stanley Stubbers. Two guvnors, two paydays, two meal tickets. All he needs to do is keep them from discovering each other. What could possibly go wrong?

Acclaimed playwright Richard Bean has relocated the action to the swinging 60s and channelled the classic humour of Ealing comedies, Carry On films and Fawlty Towers, to bring fresh life to Carlo Goldoni’s 18th century Italian farce, The Servant of Two Masters.

“In 2013, I saw my first professional play – the West-End production of One Man, Two Guvnors when it toured to Sydney,” said Director Angus Evans. “So there’s a certain reverence to getting direct it ten years later at one of Sydney’s longest running theatres.”

“That said, it’s also one of the most brilliantly stupid plays ever written, and it has been an ongoing discussion in the rehearsal room how little space there is in Sydney for irreverent, silly work – so reverence has quickly gone out the window.”

“One Man Two Guvnors is one of the funniest shows you will ever watch. It’s a show that seems simple, but I think is very hard to do well; a challenge I could only take on with the cast of naturally-gifted clowns I have working on this show.”

“It’s also easy to say this is a play without any deep meaning, a simple tribute to Britcoms of the 60s. But these comedies were laced with the bigotry and exclusion of that era. I think Guvnors is a play that is fully aware of this. It places this genre and these stereotypes on stage, and by the end they’ve unravelled.”

“Comedy is for all, and my hope is this show gives us a glimpse of a future (or a present) where the marginalised are part of these comedies where they once weren’t,” said Evans.

Director: Angus Evans | Featuring: Naser Ali, Eliva, Tristan Black, Amy Victoria Brooks, Joe Clements, Patrick Cullen, Anna Dooley, Angus Evans, Patricio Ibarra, Eleanor Ryan, Angharad Wise | Band: Georgia Condon, Georgia Drewe, Matt Forbes | Musical Director/Sound Designer: Georgia Condon | Set Designer: Jess Zlotnick | Costume Designer: Holly-Jane Cohle | Assistant Director/Choreographer: Emily Dreyer | Fight Choreography: Diego Retamales | Intimacy Director: Shondelle Pratt

One Man, Two Guvnors
New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown
Season: 23 March – 15 April 2023 (preview: 22 March) – please note date change!
Information and Bookings: www.newtheatre.org.au