This play, starring James Corden, is amazing, and I'm so grateful my mother decided my sister and I needed another Christmas present this year. She had already seen it last summer, before it moved to the Adelphi Theatre on The Strand, but thought I would really enjoy it. And I definitely did.
I have to admit, I never was a great fan of James Corden: I never watched Gavin and Stacey, and that sketch he did for Comic relief a year or two back wasn't all that funny. But in this play, I couldn't wait for him to come back on stage for his next scene. The play is based on an 18th-century Italian comedy The Servant of Two Masters by a guy called Carlo Goldini, but updated to a 1960's Brighton scene. The story, as the title quite obviously suggests, is about a guy (Francis Henshall, played by James Corden) who has two bosses. But what he doesn't know is that the two bosses are actually a couple. (You find that out pretty early in the show, so I haven't given anything away for you, don't worry!) He spends the majority of the play trying to not let each boss find out about the other, (the rest of which he falls in love with a hussy and tries to find something he can eat) with a series hilarious slapstick events, which had me continuously laughing until my stomach hurt. At the beginning I found I was trying to keep my laughter back a bit, in fear of laughing too loud - coming from me, making any noise when I laugh is a big deal. I am a victim of silent hilarity. But, genuinely, after about 4 minutes in to the play, dignity was no longer an issue. The woman sitting next to me was cackling - actually cackling - and my mum was in tears.
The best thing about the show was how they managed to 'break the fourth wall', not just by talking to the audience, letting them know the characters thoughts that he says out loud and that somehow the other characters don;t hear, but via James Corden's amazing ad lib-ing. If you've heard about this play before, you will almost certainly have heard about the sandwich scene: James Corden sits on the bench on stage alone and asks, to no-one in particular, "Has anyone got a sandwich?... Seriously" to which a paying member of the audience shouts back "I do!" Everyone laughs, blah blah blah, we all think it's a set up, blah blah blah, James Corden replies with "What kind of sandwich you got?" "Chicken and Bacon" etc. Because most people, by now, who are going to see this play have heard of this scene, they think it's set up. But, actually it isn't. Corden then tries again, "Has anyone got a sandwich?... Seriously" and yet another guy from the crowd shouts out "I do!" And it goes on. It's such a brilliant scene, because even Corden didn't manage to keep his cool - he went bright pink laughing, and ad lib-ing the scene completely, even jokingly accusing the audience of ruining the whole segment of the play with their inability to understand he wasn't actually talking to them. "His script is a bang-on-the-money mixture of wisecracks, sight gags, and fiendish moments of audience participation. The jokes and verbal sallies just keep on coming."
The entire performance was like a pantomime, but a mildly X-rated, and historically correct version. And, having read quite a few reviews on the play, it seems each performance is different; "And it is precisely that air of spontaneity that keeps the show fresh." I would recommend it to anyone and everyone who has a sense of humour, but actually it won't be in theatres for much longer, and I believe, if not all, the majority of tickets have been sold. but trying calling the Box Office anyway (0844 412 4651 is the number). I don't normally like going to the theatre, but this has been one of very few performances that i have loved from before it even started (when a live rock'n'roll 60's-style band play live music on stage, and keep reappearing between scenes throughout the play) to the very end (when I was desperate to pee).
I have to admit, I never was a great fan of James Corden: I never watched Gavin and Stacey, and that sketch he did for Comic relief a year or two back wasn't all that funny. But in this play, I couldn't wait for him to come back on stage for his next scene. The play is based on an 18th-century Italian comedy The Servant of Two Masters by a guy called Carlo Goldini, but updated to a 1960's Brighton scene. The story, as the title quite obviously suggests, is about a guy (Francis Henshall, played by James Corden) who has two bosses. But what he doesn't know is that the two bosses are actually a couple. (You find that out pretty early in the show, so I haven't given anything away for you, don't worry!) He spends the majority of the play trying to not let each boss find out about the other, (the rest of which he falls in love with a hussy and tries to find something he can eat) with a series hilarious slapstick events, which had me continuously laughing until my stomach hurt. At the beginning I found I was trying to keep my laughter back a bit, in fear of laughing too loud - coming from me, making any noise when I laugh is a big deal. I am a victim of silent hilarity. But, genuinely, after about 4 minutes in to the play, dignity was no longer an issue. The woman sitting next to me was cackling - actually cackling - and my mum was in tears.
The best thing about the show was how they managed to 'break the fourth wall', not just by talking to the audience, letting them know the characters thoughts that he says out loud and that somehow the other characters don;t hear, but via James Corden's amazing ad lib-ing. If you've heard about this play before, you will almost certainly have heard about the sandwich scene: James Corden sits on the bench on stage alone and asks, to no-one in particular, "Has anyone got a sandwich?... Seriously" to which a paying member of the audience shouts back "I do!" Everyone laughs, blah blah blah, we all think it's a set up, blah blah blah, James Corden replies with "What kind of sandwich you got?" "Chicken and Bacon" etc. Because most people, by now, who are going to see this play have heard of this scene, they think it's set up. But, actually it isn't. Corden then tries again, "Has anyone got a sandwich?... Seriously" and yet another guy from the crowd shouts out "I do!" And it goes on. It's such a brilliant scene, because even Corden didn't manage to keep his cool - he went bright pink laughing, and ad lib-ing the scene completely, even jokingly accusing the audience of ruining the whole segment of the play with their inability to understand he wasn't actually talking to them. "His script is a bang-on-the-money mixture of wisecracks, sight gags, and fiendish moments of audience participation. The jokes and verbal sallies just keep on coming."
The entire performance was like a pantomime, but a mildly X-rated, and historically correct version. And, having read quite a few reviews on the play, it seems each performance is different; "And it is precisely that air of spontaneity that keeps the show fresh." I would recommend it to anyone and everyone who has a sense of humour, but actually it won't be in theatres for much longer, and I believe, if not all, the majority of tickets have been sold. but trying calling the Box Office anyway (0844 412 4651 is the number). I don't normally like going to the theatre, but this has been one of very few performances that i have loved from before it even started (when a live rock'n'roll 60's-style band play live music on stage, and keep reappearing between scenes throughout the play) to the very end (when I was desperate to pee).
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