ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS
National Theatre at the Lyttleton
28.08.11
What would Carlo Goldoni make of
Richard Bean's hugely successful and side-splittingly hilarious
re-working of his Servant of Two Masters ?
Well, he'd recognise the famous dinner
scene, superbly served up in Nicholas Hytner's stylish production.
And the flats giving a perspective view of the seaside – Brighton
standing in for La Serenissima. And the concept of a star player
stepping out of the plot to improvise like a stand-up, and interact
with audience members. Goldoni's original Harlequin one such – the
talented, and equally famous James Corden another, working to
brilliant effect as the permanently hungry and slightly slow-witted
Francis Henshall, who strives to serve both Jemima Rooper's lairy
Roscoe and the public school toff Stanley Stubbers [beautifully
caught by Oliver Chris].
The classy company included several
masters of the farce, not least the crowd-pleasing doddery waiter of
Tom Edden.
And I've not even mentioned the
marvellous music [Grant Olding], using skiffle and rock'n'roll
pastiche to bridge the scenes and transport us to the early sixties.
With some glorious speciality spots, including Corden on the
xylophone.
A sell-out in the Lyttleton, a West End
transfer already selling well, and cinema relays sold out all over
the UK – Goldoni, who died in poverty and in exile, would certainly
have approved of that.
