Buxton Drama League to stage smash-hit comedy

The award-winning West End and Broadway success One Man Two Guvnors garnered rave reviews in the national press.
One Man Two Guvnors at Buxton Opera House from May 19 to 21.One Man Two Guvnors at Buxton Opera House from May 19 to 21.
One Man Two Guvnors at Buxton Opera House from May 19 to 21.

This month it hits a High Peak town for the very first time, courtesy of Buxton Drama League which is presenting it at the town’s Opera House.

The drama unfolds in 1963 in Brighton. Poor Francis Henshall is out of a job, circling a seedy world of small time gangsters and would-be actors and finding it difficult to remember the last time he ate. Then, suddenly, he has two jobs. But that means two guvnors and he realises with hilarious consequences it’s not that easy working for two bosses.

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Francis (performed by James Corden in the original West End production) clings on while a non-stop sequence of misunderstandings, comic wordplay and frantic slapstick creates mayhem around him.

Richard Bean has picked up the conventions of commedia dell’arte and created a classic British comedy based on The Servant with Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni. That might sound highbrow – but it’s not! It is however a laugh a minute and since Samuel French Ltd made the production available for non-professional companies, it’s been the most popular choice for community theatre companies up and down the country.

Formed in 1922, Buxton Drama League aims to create top-quality theatre experiences. . Drama league actors have been praised ‘as every bit as professional as those who do it for a living.’ Their latest production features a cast that have very different day jobs, there’s a vet, bakery owner and solicitor to mention a few.

One Man, Two Guvnors is at Buxton Opera House from Thursday, May 18, to Saturday, May 21, at 7.30pm. Tickets are priced at £14. Contact 01298 72190 or visit www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk