Derby Theatre has announced a superb and stellar cast for their big production in the main house this autumn, a co-production with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch of Richard Bean’s hilarious farce, One Man, Two Guvnors. The production will run at Derby Theatre from Saturday 7 until Saturday 28 September, before moving on to play at the Queen’s Theatre from Wednesday 2 until Saturday 19 October.
Playing the central role of Francis Henshall will be David O’Reilly. David has numerous stage and TV credits to his name, with highlights including: The Catherine Tate Show Live and The Book of Mormon (both in the West End); Grease (a No. 1 UK Tour) and the popular sitcom Benidorm for ITV.
Joining David will be David Cardy, playing the role of Charlie. Joining them, as part of the wonderful line-up of top-class actor-musicians, will be: Samantha Hull as Pauline; George Kemp as Stanley; Alice Frankham as Rachel; TJ Holmes as Alfie; Ivan Stott as Harry; Duane Hannibal as Lloyd; Jack Brett as Alan; Craig Armstrong as Gareth and Rosie Strobel as Dolly.
One Man, Two Guvnors will feature a live skiffle band which includes: Oraine Johnson ; Dominic Gee Burch; Jay Osborne and Tomas Wolstenholme. The skiffle band will treat the audience to some pre-show music before each performance.
The creative team includes Sarah Brigham (Director); Kelvin Towse (Musical Supervisor); Neil Irish (Set & Costume Designer);Trina Haldar (Assistant Director); Tim Skelly (LX Designer) and Adam McCready (Sound Designer).
One Man, Two Guvnors is a side-splitting mix of physical comedy, farce and live music and has remained a huge hit with audiences and the press alike since the National Theatre’s production opened to rave reviews in 2011. The play continued to be a runaway success when it later toured the UK, played in the West End and on Broadway and later played Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, plus further UK tours.
After being fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall is skint and hungry. He manages to secure a new job as a minder for small time gangster Roscoe Crabbe. What Francis doesn’t know, is his new guvnor is really Roscoe’s sister Rachel in disguise as her own dead brother, who has been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers.
To further complicate things, Francis nabs a second job working for that very Stanley Stubbers who is hiding from the police. All Francis has to do to ensure his two guvnors don’t meet. What could go wrong?
Tickets are now on sale. For more information and to book tickets, call the Box Office on 01332 593939 or book online at www.derbytheatre.co.uk. Jump the queue and book early – with 50% off preview performances – by becoming a Derby Theatre Friend today (contact Box Office for more information).
