Commedia dell'arte

I went to see a play at the Theatre Royal with Jackie this evening called "One Man, Two Guv'nors". I knew absolutely nothing about it before I went but I really enjoyed it. It's a slapstick comedy, and I quite like a certain amount of slapstick as long as it's quite witty. I didn't buy a programme so it wasn't until we were chatting to some old friends that we happened to meet at the interval, that they mentioned that it is based on a Commedia dell'arte play from the 18th century. Everything fell into place, and in fact at the beginning of the second half the buffoon main character referred to the genre and described himself as the Harlequin. And sure enough he had all the right characteristics; stupid and gluttonous but also very agile and a bit wily. The ridiculous plot translated well into 1960s seaside England and the skiffle music worked well during the scene changes. There were also some clever little twists and turns which I won't mention for fear of spoiling it for others. The slapstick was way over the top and it was all great fun.