Last term I had the joy of seeing the Minotaur Theatre Company’s One Man, Two Guvnors and as someone whose preferred genre isn’t usually comedy, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually audibly laughed. Not to mention, I was wildly impressed by the quality of the acting. 

The opening tableau with the room split into three areas with three different conversations occurring simultaneously was really well executed. Admittedly, the accents took me a second to get used to, however this just points to the great job the actors did with them. The comedic timing and facial expressions were on point the entire time. 

In particular, Joe McCloskey who played Francis Henshall was absolutely phenomenal. During one of the early scenes he skilfully caught popcorn in his mouth, multiple times might I add, and his charisma caught the audience’s attention and affections. Furthermore, the audience participation felt natural and was genuinely entertaining. I loved how easily he broke the fourth wall, for example in one of the scenes when he commented that during a previous performance, he actually missed the bin while throwing an item into it. Considering the bright spotlight on the bin and soft angelic music accompanying the moment, this revelation elicited a lot of laughter from the audience. 

Todd Bell who played Alan Dangle also had some incredible body language throughout the performance as did the character of Alfie, played by Lucy Matthes, who was clearly another audience favourite. In terms of physicality the fight scene was one of the best I’ve seen; the intensity, drama, and exaggeration, rolling on the floor etc. really had me on the edge of my seat (if they had to write a risk assessment for this production it must have been a nightmare).

I also absolutely adored the scene with the fake chest hair plate, I thought that because it was slightly cheaper looking with painfully obvious mismatched black straps the comedy was amplified. Same with the planted actor, until they hit his face with a pie and accidentally ‘electrocuted’ him, I had no suspicion of him being part of the cast. 

Last by not least, I found the music choices enjoyable and thought the moments of silence were well chosen. The lighting choices further matched the atmosphere on stage and enhanced the performance. These technical elements masterfully underpinned the brilliant acting and made this production a true success.