What does an adaptation from an 18th century Italian play, set in 1960s Brighton, look like when performed and produced by UHD students. Would it even appeal to a modern American audience?
Given the laughs and the energized engagement of the audience at the O’Kane Theatre, director Luke Fedell, the cast, and production crew succeeded by achieving a unique blend of British, American, and UHD culture in their interpretation of “One Man, Two Guvnors.”
According to dramaturg Zach Dailey, Richard Bean’s “One Man, Two Guvnors” is adapted from Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni’s “The Servant of Two Masters.” Bean’s play mostly follows its predecessor’s plot and themes of deception, misunderstanding, love, pairs, and class structures, but the two works differ in setting and theatrical form.
“One Man, Two Guvnors” is set in 1960s Brighton, England and uses the farce comedy form, resulting in a performance full of slapstick, audience interaction, and the implementation of modern humor and relevant topics. “The Servant of Two Masters” is set within the era it was written—18th century Italy—and retains the classical commedia dell’arte comedy format, which utilizes improv and character archetypes. Though these elements are still present in the modern adaptation.
The plot of “One Man, Two Guvnors” follows protagonist Francis Henshall’s (Sora Srivastava) antics in simultaneously serving two guvnors—Roscoe Crabbe (Josephine Laurenzo), a mobster, and Stanley Stubbers (Emmanuel Sanchez), a wealthy man—without either knowing about Francis’ dual employment. This convoluted scenario leads to entertaining twists, hilarity, and outright chaos as Francis attempts to manage working for two opposing guvnors.
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UHD cast of the production accompanied by Professors Luke Fedell (left) and Kyle Moore (right). Courtesy: O’Kane Theatre
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“One Man, Two Guvnors” by the O’Kane Theatre sets out to make audiences laugh, and it succeeds with witty humor, expressive actors, and nonsensical shenanigans. Courtesy: O’Kane Theatre
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UHD’s “One Man, Two Guvnors” excels in audience interaction as the characters are constantly making smug and snide asides to the audience about their counterparts. Some audience members are even called to perform small roles alongside the actors.
This creates a false pretense and brings shock value when a fake audience member is spayed with water and a fire extinguisher after a real fire broke out. A member of the production team comes out to console the fake audience member, solidifying the audience’s bewilderment.
British culture is of course the most represented culture in “One Man, Two Guvnors.” The more well-known references that characters bring up during dialogue and comedy bits are fish and chips, mushy peas, the queen, and The Beatles. These moments are great for getting a quick laugh or nod from the audience.
However, some allusions are more cleverly utilized to build audience expectations. An elderly waiter, Alfie (Beach Rosa), with a balancing disorder and deafness is revealed to have been at Gallipoli, a notorious World War I military campaign.
This establishes Alfie as one of the more memorable performances of the play due to his over-the-top slapstick antics of falling downstairs, getting beaten by a bat, and fending off the police via “Mortal Kombat” finishers.
Characters like Lloyd Boateng (Trey Warrell) cheekily ridicule Australia and Canada, former territories of the British Empire, for being terrible places to live in. The recurring joke that the audience anticipated the most was Lloyd being the sole character who looked fondly at Australia, referring to it as “prison” while looking out at the audience.
While the British are represented by the setting, dialogue, and staging of “One Man, Two Guvnors,” mid-20th-century American culture shines through the colorful costume design. While it is hard to pinpoint a specific era of fashion, most of the female characters’ outfits follow a rockabilly look with polka dot dresses, shirts and scarfs, and bouffant hairstyles. The male characters take on the style of the greaser and the suits, ties and slacks of the mobsters and private detectives seen in American film noir.
What makes this performance truly one of a kind is the UHD mark that is planted throughout the play. The most noteworthy act is the black and white music video that features UHD’s Ed-U-Gator with a band performing a Beatles song during intermissions and set changes.
The audience was both delighted and in awe at seeing the university mascot in a British setting, staged by American students. The most meta comment that invited smiles and chuckles from the audience was Francis’ declaration that the university he would wish to go to is the University of Houston-Downtown.
Although unintended, the location of the O’Kane Theatre next to the METRORail Red Line provided the sound of passing trains, which added a loose sense of the recognizable Tube in London. Coincidently, ambient police sirens from Houston were also audible when a policeman emerged onto the stage.
The interpretation of “One Man, Two Guvnors” by the O’Kane Theatre sets out to make audiences laugh, and it succeeds with witty humor, expressive actors, and nonsensical shenanigans. The amalgamation of British, American, and UHD culture is what stands out the most during the performance and may be what left the greatest impression on audiences.
The O’Kane Theatre presented its fall 2024 production of “One Man, Two Guvnors” from Nov. 7 to Nov. 16. The theatre will produce two plays for the spring semester; visit the O’Kane Theatre’s website for the current performance schedule.
