Reuniting the core team from 2024’s One Man, Two Guvnors, this goofy mistaken identity romp is yet another well-executed bit of nonsense that serves a very specific purpose in moderation.

Designer Michael Gianfrancesco’s set is so expansive and detailed that you’d swear the Shaw had an infinite production budget. Seven entrances, some hidden some seen, dot the lush drawing room adorned with world-establishing hunting trophies and equine portraits. Each entrance is used with daring and precision to create the effect of Peter Fernandes having been multiplied. He seemingly exits upstage then reappears impractically quickly downstage and, even once you learn to watch him like a hawk, the experience is not unlike a human shell game.

It’s a great star vehicle for the eternally likeable and unfailingly game Fernandes, though there’s little of interest to do for the rest of the cast (the great Martin Happer is onstage a lot but is decidedly second fiddle). Unlike last year’s triumphant farce Tons of Money, this script by Ray Cooney and Tony Hilton doesn’t offer much for the actors to grab on to in terms of character and relationship development or personal stakes. There’s the promise of money, of course, but there’s no sense of real consequence for anyone who fails to secure it.

That lack of substance places a massive burden on the technical execution and on Fernandes specifically. One Man, Two Guvnors benefitted from the presence of physical performer Matt Alfano who massively expanded the limits of the physical gags possible in the show with specialized acrobatics. This cast throws themselves around plenty but are never able to achieve the wildness necessary to keep my admittedly farce-skeptical attention without higher stakes.

This is a highly competent, spirited show that suffers from comparison and crowding with both the memory of One Man, Two Guvnors and the presence of the similarly toned Jeeves & Wooster in the season. With a bit more room to breathe, One For the Pot might have been a refreshingly fun highlight but, no matter how well executed, it just feels repetitive.