One Man, Two Guvnors in the West End

Thursday the 16th of September, the entire theatre department went to Colwood theatre to see the broadcast, directly from the National Theatre London, of an adaptation of carlo Goldoni "The Servant of Two Masters", by Rchard Bean, who draws not just on the stock scenes of commedia del arte, but also on the anarchic British post-war tradition of variety entertainment. It's a ludic delight. . The original 18th century Venetian romp is brilliantly relocated to early sixties Brighton where Frances Henshall, joyously played by James Cordon, manages to blag himself into two jobs simultaneously. One of his new bosses, Rachel, is an East End moll, in disguise as her dead gangland brother and the other is the man responsible for Rachel's brother's murder, her lover Stubbers, an upper class twit with a fine line in the gratuity of public school violence. Both are hiding in Brighton, unaware of each other's presence.There's more than genial charm however, this is an actor who instinctively understands his audience, and frequently bringing them into conversation and occasionally action. A private communion that enables us all to recognise the ridiculous nature of the theatrical set up and casts us in the role of sympathetic complicity.

It was a really nice experience, not only because it was the first time that the theatre department got together, but also because the show was hillarious; absolutely fun. It was a really original piece, brilliant, fun, interactive, ironic, but at the same time dramatic and naturalistic. As far as I'm concerned it was a great representation of Commedia dell'Arte; the actors were simply amazing and comedic. I loved it because it really made me have a lot of fun, but as well, the stage, was simply amazing. The stage setting was really dynamic, in order to make quick scene change, but always naturalistic and beautiful.