November 17, 2011
A night on the tiles without the hangover
Yesterday I attended the first night of Bouncers at O’Reilly Theatre, Keble College. After a slight struggle getting into the building (the doors were late opening and there was a lack of any noticeable Front of House), the back of my hand was stamped and I walked into an auditorium with loud dance music, flyers on the floor, and flashing lights which really sets the scene of a nightclub.Bouncers by John Godber is a play written in the 70’s that has been adapted over the years to keep it fresh. Set outside a nightclub in a northern town, we are taken through the rituals of a night out clubbing that most of us will be able to relate to in some way; from getting ready, arriving at a nightclub, the 2am drunken flirting, the kebab van, feeling queasy, and getting cold waiting for a taxi whilst realizing that too much money has been spent with very little to show for it.
The play has numerous characters – from the groups of lads and lasses, hairdresser, barber, university students, under-age kids, shop keeper, burger van man etc, and yet all are portrayed throughout by just four actors – the bouncers. In this production, directed by Max Mills, the four bouncers- Judd, Ralph, Lucky Eric, and Les - were played by Barnaby Lynch, Richard Hill, Jack Plant, and Ziad Samaha respectively.
In general, the play was extremely entertaining and the acting was reliable with occasional excellence during some of the characterizations. The ‘gents' toilet’ and ‘browsing videos’ scenes provided particularly good comedy.
Jack Plant was certainly the most convincing as a bouncer, and I suspect the only Northerner in the cast – but I did want him to look up more often as the overhead lighting did hide his face quite regularly. Barnaby Lynch injected some great comedy with his shopkeeper, but with other characters (most notably the barber) his voice was lost towards the end of his lines, and I feel that I missed quite a few of the jokes as I simply hadn’t heard what he’d said.
Ziad Samaha and Richard Hill appeared the most relaxed on stage, and Richard was particularly good at playing one of the girls – especially when ‘she’ spotted a man in the audience that she liked the look of. The northern accents were generally done well, in a Max and Paddy way; the atmosphere created was good, and the occasional interaction with the audience was great – although a little intimidating if you happen to sit in the front rows.
The story progresses at a good pace and must certainly be a challenge for the actors, and this showed occasionally when the transitions between characters were a little too quick, impacting the stylized rhythm of the play.
If I were to criticize anything, it would be the off-stage business, including the introduction and the DJ - there seemed to be some issues with the sound, which meant that some of the jokes were missed because they weren’t clear enough. I also feel it lacked a little in the darker side – it didn’t quite deliver the ‘nightmarish vision of the disco world’ that I believe John Godber intended. I enjoyed myself, but I feel I have missed the pain of a hangover.
The comedy is adult with strong language, and the club music is loud – but not excessively so. The positive of this night out is that it is very reasonably priced at £7 a ticket, and you won’t have a hangover the morning after. For those not easily offended, it is a great evening’s entertainment. Finishing at around 9:15pm it allows for a good start to a night out with friends.