Understudy is one man's new guvnor

Stand-in Owain Arthur brings the house down as James Corden goes to Broadway
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Louise Jury14 March 2012

Understudy Owain Arthur is a West End star today after stepping into James Corden’s shoes in One Man, Two Guvnors.

Corden, who is preparing to take the National Theatre’s smash hit play to Broadway next month, seemed to have made the lead his own, presenting a masterclass of quickfire wit. But Arthur brought the house down last night as gluttonous, easily confused, jobless musician Francis Henshall, after the Theatre Royal Haymarket transfer.

“Playing a West End lead was a very distant dream,” said Arthur, 28, after the show. “I didn’t think it would happen. I’m not sure it has sunk in yet.

“It’s an absolute gift of a part, a part to dream of. The key factor is to go out and enjoy yourself. And if you have a ball doing it, that influences the audience for them to enjoy it.”

Arthur, a Welshman, said he had worked hard to make his performance different from Corden’s. “I know James is so loved by the public that they will miss him but I don’t think about him on stage. At home at certain times I am thinking I’ll obviously be compared to him. That was the only fear about tonight and what people might say.”

The Gavin & Stacey star has been very supportive, Arthur said. “He’s been amazing. We’ve been texting all week and he’s going to try to see it before he goes to New York.” Arthur, who previously took over from Corden, 33, as Timms when The History Boys transferred from the National, said he took the understudy’s role in One Man because it guaranteed four shows when Corden had prior commitments.

But he and the rest of the new cast kept the laughter flowing. Graham Norton, who came to support Jodie Prenger — star of his TV show I’d Do Anything — said the play was “laugh-out-loud, properly funny”.

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