THEATRE REVIEW: One Man, Two Guv'nors at Rotherham Civic

I HAD hopes for Phoenix Players’ lockdown-delayed comedy comeback.

The Brinsworth-based company certainly know their way around a farce and the fast-paced adaptation of 18th century Italian caper A Servant of Two Masters seemed a good fit for them. 

An English-language version starring James Corden was a huge hit at the National Theatre in 2011 and enjoyed a revival when aired on YouTube during the first Covid lockdown, bringing in 2.5 million streams. 

Love him or hate him, Corden was great in the role of Francis Henshall, the titular servant who spends his time keeping an unfeasible number of plates spinning.

Mark Hague is the man who steps into the speedily-moving spotlight for Phoenix. 

The role demands physical comedy skills — at one point, Henshall is seen to beat himself up — as well as verbal dexterity, the ability to appear flustered while also nailing your lines and the confidence for a spot of “fourth wall” breaking. 

Hague’s Henshall — driven in the first act by his grumbling stomach and the need to keep his two guv’nors apart and, in the second, by carnal desires — is such an endearing figure he even gets away with puns and one-liners which would struggle to achieve “dad joke” levels.

Producer/director Tracey Briggs addressed the audience before curtain-up to reveal she had stepped into the role of Roscoe/Rachel Crabbe at 24 hours’ notice and asked forgiveness for intermittently consulting her script. 

It’s an easy sin to excuse as Briggs has the characterisation sorted, bringing some Cockney swagger and comedy chops to the part of “gangster’s twin posing as gangster”. 

The cast make a pretty good fist of Richard Bean’s script — not every zinger lands and the odd punchline is lost through lack of enunciation, but Phoenix had the opening night audience laughing throughout.

And I fancy the most colourful language brought the heartiest bellows. 

Special mention should go to Lee Sanderson as the likeable public school dandy and unlikely killer Stanley Stubbers and Neil Mather as doddery waiter Alfie, whose jelly-like gait leaves him ever-teetering on the edgy of calamity.  

I also enjoyed Greg Muscroft turn as an unlikely would-be Lothario named Alan.

The humour is undeniably silly, but it’s none the worse for that, while the less politically-correct moments are daft rather than malicious, exposing the characters’ own idiocies instead of punching down.

As Hague conducted the interval raffle, he spoke with passion of how relieved and delighted Phoenix were to be returning at the Civic. 

I can only second that — how great to be back amid an audience all laughing together.

Phoenix have more than done the script and the spirit of ...Guv’nors justice. It’s 18 months overdue, but this is one show that’s certainly worth the wait.