Bouncers Remix

Nantwich Players returned to the stage to perform John Godber’s “Bouncers Remix”. The cast were in safe hands with Simon Porter at the helm as Director with a real flair for comedy. The production used very minimal set, no props and no costume changes, which helped to keep the pace up throughout. Many awkward silences were included throughout, each one the perfect length to have the audience in stitches – especially in the scene where the Bouncers greet each other. The minimalist style for this show worked really well, with the cast simply stating where they were for scene changes (eg. “Barbers”). Had I not known the play, I may have been slightly lost when the actors were switching between characters as the only indicators were their voices and physicality, but they did a great job with this. From the off, it was stated that the play was set in the 90’s, with references and music thrown in to keep the authentic feel of this era.

Simon’s direction throughout was clear and, along with the cast, he was able to pull the comedy from all the right moments within the play. I particularly liked how the 2 guys trying to enter the club always used their upstage hand for their “headpieces”, switching hands whenever they changed direction. The toilet scene was also very well staged. At first, I was concerned when I saw the cast all walk to face the back wall, however their projection was great meaning they could all still be heard. I must also give a shout out to the “Thriller” dance at the end of the show – this was well performed by all, with some hilarious facial expressions from Simon Dean and James Freeman!

The main component of the set was simply beer barrels, moved around to act as seats in several locations. Most notably the taxi scene where the barrels were set out in formation and a square light projected down on to them to show they were in a vehicle. The black curtains around the perimeter allowed for the focus to be solely on the actors for the entirety of the show with no frills or fancies. The corner of the stage was home to a microphone, which turned out to be a DJ booth when the lighting changed for those scenes – this was a brilliant idea! Lighting throughout the show was very strong, with coloured lights timed with the music to create and authentic night club feel. I also enjoyed the use of a rectangular light from above, shining down on the Bouncers during the scenes in the street. A single spotlight was used for Lucky Eric’s speeches, bringing the audiences full attention to him, sometimes with some underscoring as well to add to the emotion of the monologues. The sound was well balanced throughout – the music never overpowered the casts dialogue. I must also mention the DJ microphone in the club. The sound was so authentic with James delivering lines in such a way that you could just about understand what was being said.

Simon Dean took on the role of Lucky Eric for the production and did a brilliant job. Although slightly too quiet in some scenes, the changes in his voice between the male and female characters was great. He performed with an intimidating presence and such true anger, while still able to play the softer side of the character when needed. The anger shown towards Judd and the raw emotion shown in Eric’s speeches were very well played. This was an excellent performance from Simon.

Ralph was played by James Freeman who was consistently in character – even when knocking over a microphone! This was played off brilliantly with hilarious reactions. James’ acting was perfectly over the top when playing female roles, having the audience laughing the whole time. His commitment to his characters was second to none, with high levels of energy throughout and great relationships formed with the other characters. An outstanding performance – well done!

Pete Ramsay played Judd in the production. Pete played the part well, with some great moments of winding Eric up. The rivalry between the two was played brilliantly on both sides. For me, I would have liked to see a bit more of the “creepy” side to Judd to go along with some of the things he says about women and the views he has on them. I felt Pete wasn’t quite as committed as the rest of the cast and was holding back, especially during scenes portraying female characters – the difference between the roles wasn’t quite big enough. Rounding out the cast in the role of Les was Jonathan Everitt. I felt the delivery of lines at times to be lacking in energy, however the performance overall was good with some really lovely comedic moments. Rosie’s breakdown was well acted and the audience were laughing in all the right places.

Overall, the cast and crew did a brilliant job bringing this production to life. There were some moments where the cast were not in time with the music during the “raps” or when their unison lines were not quite in unison. On the whole, they gave very intense, high energy performances and were able to keep the pace going to move the story along – especially with seamless switches between characters. I loved the awkward dancing displayed by all four actors during the opening! The comedy timing from everyone was absolutely spot on, especially during the postman scene. Simon and James performed this brilliantly! So over the top, and the rewind was excellent!

Thank you to Nantwich Players for their invite to the show and for their kind hospitality. I wish them the best of luck with the next production, 1984, to be performed in September 2026.

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