What's that line mean?

Act Two, Scene Five 

Pg 92 – Stanley / Rachel - "My little badger" / "My hairy bear"

According to the stage directions in 2.3, Stanley is exceedingly hairy, thus explaining the "hairy bear" nickname. As to "my little badger," I'd like to think this is actually a "wink line" to the audience regarding the "Honey Badger" viral video which became internet gold in January, 2011 (OMTG opened in May, 2011). That said, even if the video didn't inspire the line, the animal is certainly appropriate. As a short-legged animal that's seemingly unafraid of anything, the badger (honey or otherwise) certainly seems to describe Rachel, who we know is at least average height for a female, and likely shorter (since her brother is described several times as being quite short), and has clearly undertaken efforts in this play that demand tremendous courage.

 

Pg 92 – Regarding Lloyd's role as Brighella

At the risk of venturing too far outside of the dramaturg's role here, I'd just like to take a moment to address Brighella. Dramaturgically speaking, Bean seems to understand the traditional role of the Commedia characters--though Brighella feels like a little bit of an outlier, unless you pay very close attention. As neither a lover nor a boss, he needn't "win" or "lose" (Pantalone, i.e. Charlie, "loses" in the sense of how much money he has to spend at the end, which we learned in scene one he hates to do--Dangle is off the hook, since he never really served as an obstruction, and all the other major characters "won" in some way. Brighella (Lloyd) is left seemingly just as an instrument of moving things along ... unless we look closer. Traditionally, Brighella is outside the experience of the other characters, both in practical and emotional terms. He does what serves his interests--the concepts of "Good" and "Evil" don't really come into play, as much as what he feels is right and self-serving. He is neither afraid to speak truth to power (when it serves him) or be submissive (again, when it serves him). In this case, by being the only non-English born character, there is an element of the "outsider" there--and, if we sincerely believe (and the script gives us no reason not to) that he really does love Rachel as a daughter, then he would see no problem doing anything he wanted if he felt it helped him via his happiness for her. Captain Jack Sparrow is, perhaps, a good metaphor here -- he's looking out for number one--but that doesn't mean that "number one" doesn't include his feelings for others. He still, in a traditional sense, gets to see the master punished, and in a lower Zanni sense helps the lovers come together. The only thing really missing is his reward in the end -- but if we are to assume A.) he is happy because Rachel is happy, B.) He may make some more money off this double wedding, and C.) he enjoyed being the one to fetch Francis for punishment (traditionally, Brighella is more than happy to see Arlechinno/Harlequin punished), then his archetypal story line IS complete, even if it's not quite as "spelled out" as with other characters.

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Pg 92 – Stanley - "Bacon and Eggs!"

From context, obviously a general exclamation phrase -- however, I decided to dig deeper, just in case there was something fun. Oddly, I found MANY references to this phrase, but they all claimed it means "legs" (in an oogling, objectification context), which makes absolutely no sense here. With that in mind, I'm going with "general exclamation, along the same lines of 'Whoa!' "

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Pg 93/94 – Stanley and Rachel - "Floral Clock"

A large, outdoor garden display with a working timepiece component, popular in some stately gardens in Great Britain. 

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Pg 95 – Stanley - "...wouldn't be cricket"

That is, it wouldn't be playing by the rules / wouldn't be fair.

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Pg 98 – Stanley - "swiss roll"

A type of "rolled" cake, with a layer of filling that, due to the roll, ends up being a spiral.

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