One Man, Two Guvnors tour cast announced

Casting has been announced for the upcoming tour of One Man, Two Guvnors, the National Theatre’s multiple award-winning comedy written by Richard Bean and directed by Nicholas Hytner, which embarks on a mammoth 37 city tour of the UK and Ireland from May.

Gavin Spokes (1984, One Man Two Guvnors West End), takes the central role of loveable chancer, Francis Henshall, with Shaun Williamson (The Ladykillers, Eastenders, Life’s Too Short) as Charlie Clench. Emma Barton (Chicago, Annie, Eastenders) will play Dolly with Jasmyn Banks (recently seen as Alice Branning in Eastenders) as Pauline Clench and Alicia Davies (One Man Two Guvnors World Tour) as Rachel Crabbe. Further casting includes Michael Dylan, Derek Elroy, Edward Hancock and Patrick Warner, with more casting to be announced.

Hytner’s five star production tells the story of Francis Henshall who, fired from his skiffle band, becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe. But Roscoe is really Rachel, posing as her own dead brother – who's been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers. Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a job with one Stanley Stubbers – but to prevent discovery, he must keep his two guvnors apart. It has been described as a glorious celebration of British comedy – a unique, laugh-out-loud mix of satire, songs, slapstick and glittering one-liners.

Now seen by over 1 million people worldwide, this internationally-acclaimed smash-hit, hailed as ‘the funniest show on the planet’ by The Mail and a ‘comic classic’ by The Guardian, will be touring to Sheffield, Birmingham, Southampton, Bristol, Woking, Hull, Glasgow, Plymouth, Bradford, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Dartford, Aylesbury, Crawley, Stoke-on-Trent, Liverpool, Bath, Northampton, Canterbury, Leicester, Aberdeen, Cornwall, Leeds, Belfast, Dublin, Norwich, Brighton, Salford, Sunderland, Nottingham, Bromley, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Oxford, Wimbledon, York and Wolverhampton.

One Man Two Guvnor‘s is Richard Bean‘s version of Carlo Goldoni’s classic Italian comedy, The Servant of Two Masters and has songs by Grant Olding, performed by The Craze. The physical comedy director is Cal McCrystal, with designs by Mark Thompson, lighting by Mark Henderson, sound design by Paul Arditti, fight direction by Kate Waters and choreography with associate direction by Adam Penford.

– Kris Hallett