MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday 8 August, 2012

Auckland Arts Festival announces the exclusive New Zealand season of the National Theatre of Great Britain’s ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS

By Richard Bean

Based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni with songs by Grant Olding

14 – 23 March, 2013
ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland
Tickets on sale 17 August, 2012

Auckland Arts Festival is thrilled to announce that the National Theatre of Great Britain’s multiaward- winning West End and Broadway sensation One Man, Two Guvnors is in the 2013 Auckland Arts Festival. Tickets for the side-splittingly funny British production, which runs 14 -23 March 2013 at Auckland’s Aotea Centre, go on sale on 17 August.

Richard Bean’s smash-hit comedy of errors is a glorious homage to British comedy and vaudeville that happily hijacks the plot of Carlo Goldoni’s classic 18th Century Italian comedy The Servant of Two Masters. Under the impeccable direction of the National Theatre’s Artistic Director, Nicholas Hytner, One Man, Two Guvnors is a laugh-until-you-cry celebration of farce, slapstick, physical gags, sing-alongs and Python-esque absurdity, accompanied by an energetic score from on-stage skiffle band, The Craze.

The show comes to Auckland Arts Festival 2013 after hugely acclaimed West End and Broadway seasons and widespread recognition, including Best Play in the 2011 Evening Standard Theatre Awards (UK), four Outer Critics Circle Awards (USA) and seven Tony nominations (USA). The all- British cast is led by Owain Arthur, whose performance has received multiple five-star reviews in the current West End run.

The Auckland Arts Festival 2013, which runs 6 – 24 March across the Auckland region, is Carla van Zon’s inaugural season as Artistic Director. On choosing One Man, Two Guvnors as one of the major international headliners, she says, “The Auckland Arts Festival offers locals and visitors to Auckland a chance to experience the arts in a way they may not otherwise. A show of such wide international acclaim and superb quality as the National Theatre of Great Britain’s One Man, Two Guvnors doesn’t come to town very often. This sensational production is one that avid theatre lovers, comedy fanatics and followers of the best of everything British shouldn’t miss. It’s a high energy night at the theatre, full of laughter.”

The full 2013 Auckland Arts Festival programme will be announced on 31 October. One Man, Two Guvnors is proudly supported by THE EDGE.

www.aucklandfestival.co.nz

***** A triumph of visual and verbal comedy. One of the funniest productions in the National's history. – The Guardian

An evening of riotous delight... I found myself physically incapable with laughter. – Daily Telegraph UK

The longest sustained laugh I’ve heard in years of theatre-going. – The New Yorker Officially the funniest play on the planet – Daily Mail

The funniest thing I've seen on stage since Edna Everage stormed the St James in 1993... It's the kind of show in which characters' exits and entrances get their own rounds of applause. – Peter Calder, NZ Herald (review of National

Theatre Live screening of the play)

SEASON DETAILS

Show One Man, Two Guvnors
Where ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, 50 Mayoral Drive, Auckland When Season dates: 14 – 23 March, 2013 Tickets on sale: 17 August, 2012 Duration 2 hours 30 minutes, including one interval Price Premium $118 / Friends and Groups (6+) $108 A: $98 / Friends and Groups (6+) $89 | B: $75 / Friends and Groups (6+) $69 | C: $45 Bookings 0800 BUY TICKETS (0800 289 842) or (09) 356 3355 or www.buytickets.co.nz Group bookings: (09) 357 3354 or groups@the-edge.co.nz Information www.aucklandfestival.co.nz or www.the-edge.co.nz Social Media Facebook: One Man, Two Guvnors NZ Twitter: @Aklfestival

ends

© Scoop Media