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The boys bounce back Bouncers Wolverhampton Grand ***** It's a fair statement to say that if you
were to examine the output of the British stage in any one season that
you would find a fair number of popular works that span at least 50
years of play writing. There are those that have become fossilised in a
particular era, those that should have remained buried and those that
have become timeless unearthed classics. The problem for a modern
audience with a lot of older work is that the text is often locked into
a particular time frame and with it come the lofty values of the
original author restricting modern amendments. So as the late Dave Allen may have said ` Thank
your God for Godber'. Bouncers first came into being in 1977 but with
the writer John Godber directing his own work it could have been this
year. Bouncers is a play that everyone thinks they know even if they
have not seen it. The fact is that even if you have seen a version
over the years directed by Godber himself, it's unlikely you will see it
again as thankfully it gets re written, altered, updated and revived. As
Godber himself says of his actors ` they are getting a bespoke piece of
drama they are not doing something that was written 35 years ago. ‘ The result is a snapshot that is as clear and
incisive as ever of the culture of weekend night life seen from the
framework of the Club door, the dance floor and the revellers
themselves.
Much of the comedy still comes in the visual form
of four burly guys switching roles from the white stiletto brigade
dancing around handbags to the lads at the urinals, and the changing is
sometimes faster than the moving lights. At times it deeply tragic and
the audience are caught wrong footed with the laughs coming at precisely
the wrong times with descriptions of cheap grubby sex in dark corners
and backdoors silencing the bawdy giggles and cheers. The combined acting skills of Ace Bhatti, Don
Gillet, William Illkley and Ian Reddington as the four Bouncers are
pushed to the limit as the mood and atmosphere changes with a turn or
step backwards. All of them have each served time on EastEnders at some
point and are screen regulars on a wide range of UK TV drama and as a
team they are all superbly coordinated. A special mention must be given to Adrian Barnes
the lighting director without whose work this production would not be as
effective. Barnes manages to achieve with the flick of a switch what a
whole team of scene changers often struggle to do with cumbersome props
and furniture, transporting the action from the drunken mania of the
dance floor to the silent silhouetted monologues of Bouncer, Lucky Eric
played by Reddington. It's too much to hope for that other plays locked
in their era might be given a new millennium makeover or that their
writers, if still alive, would have the directorial skill to make the
changes needed to do so. Bouncers has achieved the almost impossible, a
finished work in progress that is as relevant to the teen age culture of
today as it is to the Locarno goers back in the 70s. It seems probable
that this future overhaul mentality will continue with the play and if
it does we will see Bouncers Bouncing back to stage for many years to
come. Jeff Grant
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