Review: Bouncers

So this is what Bouncers would look like if writer/director John Godber got his hands on a famous cast, big production values, an enormous set: a great night out.

From the cheering and shouting and occasional drunken participation, it seems that, 35 years after it was first seen, Godber’s tale of a night in a northern nightclub remains as relevant as ever. Blokes on the hunt for a female, with enough booze down their necks to bring down a hippo, girls crying into their cocktails when a night goes wrong. As Godber might have written: nowt changes.

What has changed is the set and the rehearsal period. Traditionally, because Godber knows the play like the back of his hand, and most Yorkshire actors who could be cast as the bouncers have seen it, he’s only ever thrown it together in a couple of weeks. This time around he’s been given three weeks and a massive set. Does it make a difference? Yes and no. Undoubtedly, it makes for a feel of a proper night out – and in a Georgian pros-arch theatre, that’s no mean feat. However, what still lies at the heart of this piece is the rage at the lack of opportunity and aspiration in the working class. The Bouncers are the gatekeepers to the club where inside there is paradise, but they could just as easily be blocking the entrance to a better life. Lucky Eric’s speeches still hold a mesmerising power and when we hear them that’s when the night really gets going.