Aliso Niguel Theatre Company’s One Man Two Guvnors play had a successful showing this last week from Nov. 5-9, with showtimes at 7 p.m. each night and an additional 2 p.m. showing last Saturday.
Shows from Thursday to Saturday were sold out, revealing how popular the show turned out to be. The cast was very happy with the attendance in the theatre to watch the play.
Neka Jazaeri (11), the artistic director of the company, says, “The play went really well. It’s a show that’s really fun and interactive with the audience and allows us to invite guests to enjoy the show with us.”
This play was different from the other shows ANTC has played before as the audience sits in a black box. There are seats on three sides of the set, which allows the audience to better interact with the characters.
The play was about one man, named Francis, who is secretly working for two different governors and has to make sure neither governor finds out he is working for the other. In the play, Francis is fired from his previous job as a skiffle player and takes on two jobs, so he can afford to eat and survive. While he is trying to find time to eat food for himself, he also must make sure both governors are satisfied and don’t discover each other.
A plot twist in the play is that one of the governors is a woman disguised as her brother, and the two governors are a couple but don’t realize they have both hired the same man.
One of the most memorable parts of the play was the skiffle band that sang different songs in between scenes. One musician was grating a spoon against a washboard, while others played the guitar, cello and also sang. The music brought the play to life and added character to the show.
The play includes many moments of comedy, and the characters even interact with the audience sometimes. At one point, two people are chosen from the audience to move a trunk that’s too ‘heavy’ for Francis. At another time, someone was chosen to take care of the food Francis was saving for himself for later. The volunteer held a bowl of soup, and more food was added to the bowl as the play went on.
ANTC made parts of the play special to their company, adding minor details that weren’t in the original plot. They included modern food, which was also edible, and at one point there was an inflatable dinosaur involved in the show.
After the intermission, the plot continues to show how Francis struggles to keep his two governors separated, and can’t seem to get a good meal. The end of the play concludes well for all the characters, as the two governors are able to marry each other, and other side characters also find their happy endings.
Jazaeri adds, “Overall the casting crew has worked so hard over these last few months and we have all this creativity to show, and it just shows what this big group of teenagers is able to pull off.”
