Press Releases

Hong Kong Arts Festival Announces the Exclusive Asian Premiere of the National Theatre's Award-winning Hit Comedy One Man, Two Guvnors at the 41st HKAF

May 17th, 2012

The Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) is pleased to announce the return of the National Theatre with its new five-star award-winning production One Man, Two Guvnors by acclaimed director Nicholas Hytner at the 41st Festival.

An exclusive Asian premiere, One Man, Two Guvnors will be staged at the Lyric Theatre, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts on 15-23 Feb 2013 for 11 performances.

The production won the Evening Standard and Critics Circle Awards for Best New Play. The Broadway version, which opened in New York in April 2012, has garnered seven Tony Award nominations. “It is a delight to present this joyous and ingenious National Theatre hit which will bring some serious levity to the 2013 Hong Kong Arts Festival. We are also delighted to welcome the return of Nicholas Hytner who brought his wonderful Olivier-winning play The History Boys to the HKAF in 2006,” says Tisa Ho, Executive Director of the HKAF.

UK critics have called One Man, Two Guvnors ‘one of the funniest productions in the National’s history’ (The Guardian), ‘deliriously daft and diabolically joke stuffed entertainment’ (The Independent), and ‘pure comic bliss.’ (Evening Standard), while The New York Times described it as ‘a rich, slow-spreading smile.’

The play is author Richard Bean’s award-winning version of Carlo Goldoni’s classic Italian comedy, The Servant of Two Masters. The ever-hungry servant and ex-skiffle-player Francis Henshall simultaneously and stealthily serves two masters. One of them is the upper-class Stanley Stubbers; the other, unfortunately, is Roscoe Crabbe, who is actually Rachel, disguised as her twin brother who has been murdered by Stanley - Rachel’s lover.

Details of One Man, Two Guvnors will be announced on the HKAF’s website www.hk.artsfestival.org in July and Advance Bookings will begin in October.

Richard Bean’s plays include England People Very Nice for the National, The Heretic, Harvest (winner of the Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Play), Honeymoon Suite, Under the Whaleback and Toast for the Royal Court and The Big Fellah for Out of Joint at the Lyric Hammersmith and on tour. He adapted David Mamet’s House of Games and wrote a new version of The Hypochondriac for the Almeida Theatre. Bean won the 2011 Evening Standard Award for Best Play for One Man, Two Guvnors and The Heretic.

Since he became Director of the National in April 2003, Nicholas Hytner has directed Henry V, His Dark Materials, The History Boys, Stuff Happens, Henry IV, Southwark Fair, The Alchemist, The Man of Mode, The Rose Tattoo (with Stephen Pimlott), Rafta, Rafta … , Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara, England People Very Nice, Phedre, The Habit of Art, London Assurance, Hamlet and Collaborators.

For photos, please download here: 01 02 (Photo credit :Johan Persson)

For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms Katy Cheng, Marketing Director (+852 2828 4930 │katy.cheng@hkaf.org)
Ms Alexia Chow, Marketing Manager (+852 2828 4933 │alexia.chow@hkaf.org)