As the local theater season winds to a close at two of our major companies, Berkeley Rep and A.C.T., there are two fun and splashy productions closing out their mainstage schedules. I'll be reviewing A.C.T.'s new production of the Stephen Sondheim classic A Little Night Music tomorrow, but today I'm here to tell you to get to Berkeley to see the hilarious One Man, Two Guvnors. (It should be noted, both shows have been extended — A Little Night Music through June 21, and One Man, Two Guvnors through June 28.

One Man, Two Guvnors is an original piece by British playwright Richard Bean, inspired by an 18th Century commedia dell'arte farce by Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni, titled Servant of Two Masters. It's a goofily fun, slapstick-heavy comedy with interstitial musical numbers and a fourth wall that comes crashing down within the play's first few minutes. It won a number of awards in London before transferring to Broadway and scoring seven Tony nominations in the 2012 season

At the play's center and comic heart is its star harlequin, Francis (played with wild comic talent and ease by Oregon Shakespeare Festival vet Dan Donohue) who spends the entire first act very simply trying to fill his belly — he takes on two jobs, playing temporary servant to "guvnors" who happen to be lovers in disguise, but I won't get into that. Suffice it to say there is some clever cross-dressing in the mix, a murderer on the run, and a hilarious sequence involving two waiters and a staircase played by comic masters Danny Scheie and Ron Campbell (a brief clip of which you can see in the video below). Also, be warned, there are two extended bits in which Francis pulls audience members on stage and has some extended, improvised banter across the fourth wall.

Tying this production together is a score of music inspired by the "skiffle" invasion in Britain in the 1960s, and a setting in Brighton, England, which bears a number of parallels to late 18th-century Venice, as we learn in the dramaturg's notes. The house band provides entertainment before the show and during intermission, and lingers at the edges of the stage throughout — also jumping in during set changes to keep things lively.

Director David Ivers, who makes his Berkeley Rep debut with this production, does masterful work bringing Bean's script to joyous life, and taming the antic talents of this talented cast — special mention should be given as well to the bombastic flair of William Connell as Stanley, and the hilarious, dimwitted mugging of Sarah Moser as Pauline.

If you want a hearty laugh via some old-fashioned clowning, this will be right up your alley. And if the idea of getting pulled on stage is horrifying, steer clear of the orchestra aisles.

One Man, Two Guvnors plays through June 28. Get tickets here. As always, tickets are half off if you're under the age of 30, but proof of age has to be given at the box office.