Richard Bean Archives - North West End UK

1Oct

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

One Man, Two Guvnors – Daneside Theatre

The Congleton Players’ first production of the 2025/26 season opened last night and it’s the hilarious One Man, Two Guvnors, directed by Louise Colohan, delivering a gloriously chaotic and endlessly entertaining evening at the theatre. Richard Bean’s modern adaptation of Carlo Goldini’s The Servant of Two Masters has been delighting audiences for years, but in the hands of the spirited Congleton Players company, it feels fresher and funnier than ever. Packed with more slapstick, silliness, and audience interaction, this is a show that thrives on its joyful energy and leaves you grinning from start to finish. At the heart of the production is Francis Henshall, played by Simeon Green, whose performance is nothing short of outstanding. Green delivers the perfect mix of cheekiness and ch...

To Have and To Hold – Hull Truck Theatre

8May

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

To Have and To Hold – Hull Truck Theatre

The stars shone brightly over the city of Hull on Wednesday evening, but none shone brighter than those gracing the Hull Truck Theatre stage, when they brought to life Yorkshire playwright Richard Bean’s bittersweet comedy To Have and To Hold. The star-studded cast did a marvellous job with a wonderful script, on a magnificent stage setting. Before “curtain up” and from my vantage point on the front row, I was able to admire the stage setting of comfy Dralon-covered sofa, recliner armchairs, Ercol-type tables, corded phones and stair-lift - obviously a well-loved, but dated home of an elderly couple. The pair - Florence (Paula Wilcox, star of 1970s sitcom Man About The House), and 91-year-old Jack (Ian Bartholomew, of Coronation Street fame) - bicker their way through their twilig...

Made In Dagenham – University of Sheffield Performing Arts Society

25Apr

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Made In Dagenham – University of Sheffield Performing Arts Society

Based on the 2010 film and centring around the Ford factory strike of 1968, 'Made in Dagenham' is the story based on the real life events that led up to the Equality Pay Act of 1970. As the female machinists in the factory were downgraded to 'unskilled' workers, the fight escalated into a full on war against the government and Trade Unions to secure equal pay for all workers regardless of gender. 'It's not about money it's about equality!' This small group of women, like all ground breakers, found that the battle had to be won in their home lives as well as the factory floor. As the principal character encapsulates with her poignant line in response to her young daughter's career choice, 'I laughed at her when she wanted to be a doctor and bought her a nurse’s outfit instead', but this was...

1Jun

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

One Man, Two Guvnors – Octagon Theatre

After a critically acclaimed National Theatre premiere, a UK tour, an award-winning West End transfer and a Broadway run which kickstarted James Corden’s stratospheric stateside success, there can’t have been many people left who hadn’t seen the original production of One Man, Two Guvnors. And then the pandemic struck. Another 200,000 tuned in to the NT Live performance. One of the theatrical highlights of lockdown. It’s a brave programmer then who opts to revive Richard Bean’s adaptation of Goldoni’s commedia dell'arte classic The Servant of Two Masters. It’s a gamble that’s largely paid off. For anyone unaware, 1700s Venice has been replaced by 1963 Brighton. That aside, Bean’s adaptation is surprisingly faithful. Both to the plot and themes of upper-class stupidity, gender equa...

12May

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Made in Dagenham – Sheffield City Hall

Based on the 2010 film and centring around the Ford factory strike of 1968, 'Made in Dagenham' is the story based on the real life events that led up to the Equality Pay Act of 1970. As the female machinists in the factory were downgraded to 'unskilled' workers, the fight escalated into a full on war against the government and Trade Unions to secure equal pay for all workers regardless of gender. 'It's not about money it's about equality!' This small group of women, like all ground breakers, found that the battle had to be won in their home lives as well as the factory floor. As the principal character encapsulates with her poignant line in response to her young daughter's career choice, 'I laughed at her when she wanted to be a Doctor and bought her a nurse’s outfit instead', but this was...

10Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

71 Coltman Street – Hull Truck Theatre

As a theatregoer, when you’re handed a complementary tub of chip spice along with your tickets, it does pique your interest. The chip spice came courtesy of Hull Truck Theatre, whose world premiere production of 71 Coltman Street brought to life this local theatre’s creation, 50 years ago. This week I have almost made myself ill by laughing so much at a Hull theatre production, but on Wednesday evening, at this intimate city centre venue, my chuckle muscles took a real battering. The play centres around Hull Truck founder, Mike Bradwell, who at 23, arrived in our city in 1971, renting the run-down house of the production’s title, setting up the theatre from there the following year. Written by Richard Bean, Bradwell admits not a word in the script is true, but that made not a j...

One Man, Two Guvnors – Farnworth Little Theatre

16Jan

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

One Man, Two Guvnors – Farnworth Little Theatre

Richard Bean’s hilarious One Man, Two Guvnors is the perfect antidote to the January blues, and Farnworth Little Theatre and director Natalie Crompton have gathered a superb cast to administer said antidote. We are in Brighton in the year 1963 and Francis Henshall (Phil Harrison) has just been fired from his skiffle band. In search of food (and romance), he soon finds himself juggling not one but two new jobs. What Francis doesn’t know is that his first guvnor, small time crook Roscoe Crabbe, is Roscoe’s twin sister Rachel (Ellie Murphy), in disguise as her dead brother, who was killed by her boyfriend, Stanley Stubbers (James Haslam). To complicate matters further, Francis’ second boss is none other than Stubbers, on the run and desperate to be reunited with Rachel. All Francis need...