Bouncers & Shakers
Information
- Date
- 22nd March 2017
- Society
- Athenaeum Limelight Players
- Venue
- The Athenaeum Centre, Warminster
- Type of Production
- Play
- Director
- Charlotte Stringer
The boys got the evening off to an energetic start. It was a great idea having them in the auditorium as the audience entered, especially as they maintained the detached air associated with bouncers. They burst on to the stage grabbing attention and plunging the audience into the world of the bouncer.
The play depends greatly on the actors’ ability to quickly change from one character to another, without pause, but with clarity that the audience can easily follow. The boys managed this with ease. Their storytelling skills were excellently displayed aided by their security in what they were doing. The character swaps were snappy and clear. “The girls” were well played without too much camp. The script is so funny in itself it takes a careful hand not to overdo the physical gags. The Director kept this well under control. Particularly well handled were the urinal scenes which can be so crude as to lose their humour but were not overplayed. This helped them to be very funny.
The lighting was appropriately atmospheric but there was a frequent problem with being able to see faces. This did cause a problem similar to the BBC’s latest SS-GB series. It is amazing how much we rely on seeing the actor’s mouth to hear the words. In general the actors presented the lines with clarity, but the accent did fight the consonants and in the dark it was difficult to get every word. Despite this, the jokes came over clearly and were greeted with plenty of laughter.
The boys maintained a fabulous pace without ever seeming rushed, but not allowing time for rest. The audience appreciated this and were kept attentive. The “Dad dancing” was pretty impressive too.
It was always going to be difficult to pick up the pace again after the interval and hit the floor running. The girls presented this play with the sharp edges somewhat smoothed and a more sympathetic touch. This worked well in the soliloquies which form such vital roles in the shape of the play. These were excellently presented and were very moving. Each girl tugged at the heart-strings and it was interesting to learn the truth of each character. Unfortunately the hardness required in contrast was not so evident and a couple of times the striding about the club became too random and lost its shape.
The girls obviously enjoyed playing the collection of revolting men. There was some really good pitch work in these scenes, but once or twice actors resorted to sticking the chin in and the voice became very guttural. This did make the audibility somewhat difficult. Combined with the entertaining voices was some lovely physical work. They made the most of the physical gags in the shop scene and in the “preparing to go out” scene. The “stomp” opening worked very well getting the scene set and the change of feeling from the boys, and the little touch of physical theatre was particularly well handled really showing off the their talents.
In both plays the contribution from the sound department was extremely good with the music constantly underscoring the scenes, but never intruding. There were some excellent choices of pieces complementing the scenes. The more in your face sections were well handled.
In both plays the actors’ use of the space and belief meant that we could see the venues even though there was no scenery to tell us. Of course, this was aided by the use of the screen with projections. The visuals were well chosen and along with sound and lighting changes these were efficiently handled. The Director speaks of team work in her programme notes and the togetherness of technical and acting was most evident. The ease with which the actors presented the piece was obviously the result of some fun work together preparing the works.
Both plays displayed some excellent work using many different aspects of dramatic work and certainly succeeded in making the audience think as well as laugh.
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