Grand Theatre, Blackpool – until 24 February 2024
Reviewed by Debra Skelton
5*****
If you’re looking for a night of laughter, then Bouncers presented by The John Godber Company will definitely provide that for you with corny jokes and tasteful vulgarity and can be seen at The Grand Theatre Blackpool tonight so get those tickets booked now.
Bouncers is not a new play, having been written and originally premiered in 1977 at the Edinburgh festival and due to its success, is still one of the most performed plays in the UK today which I can truly believe. It perfectly references the songs and the foolish, outrageous behaviours of any Friday or Saturday night out around the country in most towns and cities during the 80’s with particular reference in this production to the disco’s up north in Yorkshire. To be honest, some of the behaviours are still playing out of a weekend in night clubs even now.
The performance itself, tells the story of one night in a Yorkshire nightclub (Mr Cinders) through the eyes of the ever-watching bouncers Lucky Eric, Judd, Les, and Ralph. However, this is not the only perspective that we see, they also portray different interesting characters in particular the girls and the boys getting ready and hitting the clubs.
As expected from comments provided by friends who have been lucky enough to see previous performances, it did live upto expectations with a slick, smooth and hilarious production which left not only myself but most of the audience nodding in agreement with a wry smile on our faces, remembering a time when the descriptions playing out in front of us belonged to our own selves and the weekend activities of a carefree time.
The four fabulous actors that you will have the pleasure of seeing are Frazer Hammill (Lucky Eric), Tom Whittaker (Ralph), Nick Figgis (Judd) and George Reid (Les). Their ability in flipping characters was incredible and they did truly deserve the rapturous applause at the end of the performance.