Performance Workshop

Our performance of Bouncers is a workshop piece meaning that we are going to adapt the script to see what works well for us as actors and for our audience. As the play is set in the 80s one adaptation that we have discussed is modernising the language used, I think this will be really effective in appealing to our audience although it is equally important to make sure the tone of the play remains the same to keep John Godber's style present. Unfortunately it was also discussed to cut down the script which I argued against, I feel that in doing so, we will cut out many of Godber's more Vaudeville elements which makes his plays so distinct, never the less the cut down of the script has been given the 'go ahead'. Therefore we are re-arranging the scenes to make more sense.

John Godber's Writing Style

Throughout Bouncers there is a constant flow of energy and charisma and I believe this is predominately to do with John Godber's stylisation of his plays. They are usually made up of four elements, the first being multi-rolling in which Godber introduces a diverse range of characters condensed into averagely lengthened plays all portrayed by a small cast, really calling on them to distinguish each character and the actors change in character. Which brings me to the second element, Stereotyping; Godber stereotypes his characters often making them comedic, and so brings life into the performance, as well as distinct. Playing to stereotypes also means that his plays are written not necessarily to be played realistically but more so melodramatically and in some ways more vaudeville. Thirdly, Godber uses Brechtian distancing techniques in his narratives, like that of the girls as 'Rosie's boyfriend Patrick is seen kissing another', adding more of a vaudeville feel and breaking the fourth wall, further engaging the audience, giving them an added sense of involvement. Finally, John is very specific in the way that he writes and the language that he uses, from time to time he wants his actors to speak in harmony, other time it will be to use the correct slang for the given circumstances of the play, for Bouncer this is up North. Godber writes in such a way that no added text or improvisation is needed; unfortunately as we have had to cut parts of our Bouncer's script, this specific type of writing is not as clear and so at times, improvisation does feel needed and beneficial to the performance.

Kiko's Night Club

John Godber says that the Mr Cinder's Nightclub is based on Kiko's Nightclub in Potefract, West-Yorkshire which was recently reopened in September 2012. After finding some other funny remarks on Facebook about the club, I came across this review; 
"Man, did me and my mates have some fun here. Met my first girlfriend at 16 here and we went out till I was 19 so it was worth it just for that. Never mind the 50 other girls I got with before and after that.
Good music, good DJs, lots of friendly people (don't know what all the fuss was about, if you were a twat you deserve to get smacked) and decent prices if I remember.
Wish I would go back in time cos its almost 10 years since the first time I went there. Closed down though now mind, but it will live on forever in a generation of Pontefracts youths minds.
Long live Kikos!" 
Taken From - "http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/kikos-night-clubs-pontefract"

This is exactly the type of thing I'd expect to hear from one of the Lads ten years on as well, if not at their current age.

Evaluation

Bouncers is play set in the 1980s written by John Godber to break perceptions of the theatre for middle aged men. Recently our stage company performed an adaptation of Bouncers which was, in my opinion, a huge success; the performance was strong, timings were executed and the audience reacted accordingly.

As an actor, I enjoyed playing Judd as well as the Lads and the Ladies, and the multiple other characters, as I felt it gave the show real energy which was reciprocated well with audience. The Rehearsal process was considerably smooth and successful as, despite my late entrance to the cast, we had the show blocked in maybe two weeks and so it wasn't long until we were rehearsing with scripts down and working on the finer details. Furthermore, although there were some minor issues, I feel that we all bonded well as a cast which gave the show's delivery even more power. When rehearsing, we were often in room C6 although this would not be where we would be performing, this meant that as actors, we would have to adapt to the given performance space; this is something that I think was effective, there was no apparent issues. However issues did arise during rehearsals when discussing music to use throughout the play, I especially thought that some of the music chosen was inappropriate. During the performance on the other hand, the music was a pleasant undertone that actually became one of the defining factors of the show. In terms of Audience, the turnout was moderate although when taking into account the size of the cast and the limited period of advertising, the turnout was actually quite substantial. Furthermore, the audience gave a good reaction, feed backing to us actors on stage with bursts of laughter giving more confidence and charisma. Finally, characters were really brought to life on stage.

Although I still feel like characters such as the girls could have been developed more, yet I would associate this characterisation with the other scenes that were initially cut out. It has always been my opinion that we should have performed more of, if not all of, the script; the script has so much potential and in cutting it, we missed some of John Godber's stylisation. If we given the desired opportunity to perform Bouncers again, as well as using the whole script, I would like to take it to a Club setting; a school hall will always look like a school hall and hence, will always have a presence throughout the performance despite our persisting efforts to create that specific club atmosphere. An actual club would still be an effective performance space as they usually have a stage area and in most cases, seating. With Bouncers being such a renowned show, I feel that casting should have been taken majority into consideration, especially with the casting of Lucky Eric, however it really did not feel that way throughout the any part of the process and this is because of how much of the script was cut. The characters are still defined and have different personalities but not to a point where I feel a cast reshuffle would have had much effect. Eric's character should have taken a lot of consideration because of his emotional speech, but I think the speech was deprived of it's power because the rest of Eric's speeches were cut. 

The LADs and the Ladies

The LADs

The LADs are wannabe Geezers who are trying so badly to be considered cool, and in a way, from each others perspective at the least, they are fairly cool; they're funny, they're impulsive, they just lack Banter. This may because of us, the cast, as actors are not delivering the jokes properly however I think that we can really improve these characters with a bit more improvisation; as actors, in age and personality, the characters we can most relate too are the LADs and so LAD-ish dialogue should, and does, come naturally to us therefore improving the charcters with improvised, or even devised, dialogue makes so much sense. Taking all of this into consideration, I would like to develop the LADs with personality traits much like those of Richard from 'The Imbetweeners Movie':

The Girls

Firstly I would like to note that playing the Girls to some extent of realism is a difficult challenge, they cannot be comedic or at all masculine; we must focus intensely on how we walk, what we are doing with our hands, even the way that girls dance, ect. Girls, or at least 'these' Girls, are self-concious but at the same time are flashy with their bodies and extremely judgemental of everyone else. The characters of the Girls are so stereotypically bimbo 'girl-y girls' that is pains me, it is like watching an episode of 'The Only Way Is Essex' and so in conclusion, I would like our Girls to be like Sam Faiers and Amy Childs:

Character - Judd