WISH-LIST WEDNESDAY: One Man, Two Guvnors

Following on from this month's top ten list, I am this week showcasing a play with music after an influx of musicals being featured during this weekly series. An adaptation into English of the Italian comedy "The Servant of Two Masters" by Carlo Goldoni, first performed in the mid-18th century, "One Man, Two Guvnors" takes the same basic principal of a single individual working two jobs for two separate employers whilst trying to prevent the pair learning about the other, however reimagines the action to be set in 1960s Brighton, and the servant Harlequin becomes unemployed musician Francis Henshall, working simultaneously for a rich fool and the mob.

One Man, Two Guvnors received its world premiere at the National Theatre in 2011, in a production starring James Corden as Francis, and after a UK tour the same year, the show transferred to the Adelphi Theatre in the west end, where it played for around four months before transferring to the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Corden did not transfer with it, instead he made the journey over to broadway, where the show opened at the Music Box Theatre in April 2012, and ran for five months, garnering seven Tony nominations, with Corden winning for best leading actor in a play.

James Corden and Oliver Chris

The play has had two further subsequent UK tour productions, with Rufus Hound and Owain Arthur splitting the role of Francis (subsequent to their respective engagements at Haymarket) in the 2012 touring production. There were talks between Corden and director Nicholas Hytner about potentially reviving the show in the west end in 2024, however as of yet these talks have not materialised into anything concrete, so we just have to hope it won't be too long before we see the show return to the stage...