Performance of John Godber's Nightclub play comedy 'Bouncers' - Evaluation on potential

After the performance night on Tuesday 18th November (2014), my company and I have mutual agreed on it being a success with the performance having gone so well. We felt that the audience were engaged right fromthe minute they walked in to the minute the performance had finished, strongly and completely under this atmosphere of being in a nightclub and what the life is like for various different characters you see at nightclubs, right from the start and throughout the performance.

Strengths

Collaboration - when working on the performance in rehearsals, working with 3 other people as part of a company really opened up a variety of ideas and different ways in which we can produce this play to the best we can. The discussions that were included in the rehearsals were very effective and fully focused on the creation of the performance, and in terms of performance workshop, lots of these different ideas were all tried out and either dumped or used - after effective discussions with my company. Disagreements were easily overcome as with the performance workshop unit - of which was one of the units working on and performing this production went towards - all ideas and opinions were taken thoroughly into account, in regards to working on and going towards the performance.

Characterisation/element of multi-rolling - As a company, working on multi-rolling techniques and working towards playing so many different character groups where each are completely contrasting to eachother. During the rehearsal process we did lots of different activities and exercises that enhanced our ability on playing different types of characters within John Godber's play bouncers. We especially focused a lot on playing characters of the opposite sex, that are included in the play, which myself and we, as a company, found rather difficult to do in terms of physicality, voice and body language - under the category of characterisation.

These activities and exercises included focusing on physicality and adaptions of our walks and stances to different characters in scenarios to ensure that physicality is strongly versatile in order to play lots of different types of characters, and gradually our female walks and stances and actions got more and more believable. We also focused on voice of the actor, ensuring that our tone of voices changed depending on the character (emphasising our female characters). These exercises and techniques dilated our creativity on characterisation, physicality and voice to intensify our abilities on playing a stereotypical group of girls on a night out, and to play it well. 

Independently, we created spider-diagrams on our ideas of how our different characters within the play should be played - my general ideas for the girls was ditzy, over the top and bitchy. This really helped me get into my female character very much so to make sure my performance is believable to an audience.

We also found playing different types of characters of the same gender rather challenging, as we had to initiate a difference - bouncers being big, bold and broad, where as loud, goony, wannabe party lads would be quite hoppy and jumpy and not so built up.

In terms of the performance, I feel that the multi-rolling aspect of the play was portrayed very effectively and gave across a sort of comical feeling to it - that play being a comedy as it - and we feel our audience appreciated the creativity of a simple turning movement to symbolise a change in character, in regards to a change in physicality, voice and body language between the different groups of characters - purely because it was interesting but comical for our audience throughout.

Use of music - soundtrack - For the performance of this play, we came to mutual agreement of creating a soundtrack for the play. I felt that music would be a very important element in a play that evolves strongly around a nightclub. For this side of it, we chose music that were current club songs at the moment - as we decided to make the play set in current say times anyway - as I felt that it would fully portray the stereotypical atmospheres of being at a nightclub for a night out. Creating this atmosphere created quite a nostalgic feel to the performance, especially for audience members who have, before, been out clubbing and have experiences what it's like. This came as an advantage to the performance, as the relation caused engagement from our audience, improving the effect of the performance as a whole. Other choices of music were included for certain scenes in the play, like the Hairdressers and barbers, where we'd have typical radio songs playing to create a chilled out mood for these scenes - as is the stereotypical mood of them sort if places. (Further detail about creating a soundtrack is talked about on another blog post).

Staging - Staging this play was a very difficult subject when in rehearsals, as it caused lots of debates and disussions about how we we're going to perform this play, in terms of staging and lay out. 

As a company, we really wanted to strongly get across, to our audience, this atmosphere and feeling of a nightclub and being in a nightclub, to strongly improve the effectiveness of the play and the essence and context of the purpose of play. 

At the time of the performance, an audience layout had been decided. We had the idea that for the bouncers scenes, the audience area was to symbolise and to be the inside of the club, while the stage (performance area) was to be the outside of the club, where a bouncer would be. This created this atmosphere we were going for very nicely, as for us as actors playing the parts of bouncers, feeling like we are located in the rightful place of a bouncer, when on duty, - outside the club - helped us really get into these characters in a way that researched into the role of a bouncer, finding out where they'd be and the sort of things they do. Also, having the bouncers accurately located strongly portrayed the main essence of the story of the play to the audience - it being about a night out for various different character groups, all from the perspective of 4 bouncers, and stereotypically, bouncers are usually located manning the doors outside the club, so this created accuracy and research of our performance. 

In terms of the audience, having them located 'inside' the club created a symbolism and an accurate illusion of people inside a club, having the perspective of the bouncers outside - if people were to go to a club and observe the bouncers - which in the case of this play, is what the audience are doing.

This sort of layout helped us draw out this sort of sketch of the context and purpose of the play, being a typical night's work, for the bouncers, at a nightclub. But a night out at the club for the lads and for the girls.

One of the weeknesses with the staging, and something that I would definitely enforce upon in the future, if we were to do it again in an ideal world, is that we sort of lost the cleverness of the staging and this essence of the stage being 'outside' and the audience being 'inside' the club when it came to other scenes, particularly with the different characters. For example, one of the girls scenes (when they were in the club, not hairdressers), we performed the on stage, like the stage was now the 'inside' of the club which not only might of been confusing for the audience... But also, was confusing for us as a company in rehearsals. Other scenes where the location was different aswell, it seemed like we had forgotten the layout in terms of what the stage represents and what the audience area represents. Especially for the pub, barbers and hairdressers scenes, where It had kind of become a traditional theatre thing where audience sit quietly and watch the performance in which the actors portray - then having the risk of losing this feeling of locations within the layout to create this constant atmosphere of the essence and context of the play. 

Potential 

Using more/whole script - as this performance went towards my performance workshop unit (and also my principles of acting unit), we wanted to adapt the play and script to make it workshoppable an for us to really focus on the performance workshop side of it to get us the best grade possible. We sat down went through the script and picked out the most relevant bits in the play that are most important in creating this atmosphere of comedy, down-to-earthness, and the experience of a nought out in a nightclub. We came to a decision in regards to what to get rid of and what to keep, making sure that the bits we kept included bits with all the different types of groups of characters, either as a scene on their own or as scene where they encounter others. This enabled to workshop the play in more depth as it was shorter but still as powerful and effective as the original, and keeping bits that included the different characters was effective in a way that we were still able to workshop the multi-rolling aspect of the play - one of the main elements of this script by John Godber. 

If we were to ever have the task of putting on this play again, in an ideal world, I would love to use the whole script and tackle the whole play, having already workshopped most of the play as part of a company - to strongly portray the purpose of this play comedy by John Godber, even further, and to open even more spontaneous ideas on how to produce it.

Venue/audience/atmosphere - if we were to ever put on this production again (in an ideal world), there are a few things that I would go about a different way, all for the extra effect of the performance as whole. One of these being the venue, adding to the effect on the audience and overall, the atmosphere. I had the idea of hiring out a club for a night or two (depending on how many performances we put on) and putting on the performance in an actual nightclub to really add to the effect and atmosphere that the purpose of this play gets across. Locating the play in actual club, will certainly create a nostalgic feeling for the audience as putting them in a club should bring memories for those audience members who have before, been out clubbing. The advantage of the nostalgic feel is that our audience would feel much more involved and a part of the performance, drawing them in to the play, on an even bigger scale as this atmosphere of a night in a nightclub that the play creates will be at it's best ability over the audience. Not only does it do this for the audience, but for us actors, hosting the play in a nightclub would help us get firmly into all our different characters even more as at the end of the day, this play written by John Godber is about the experience of a nightclub and typical night for all the different character groups within the play. This being the case, the atmosphere and essence of the play will evolve much more strongly, giving us the ability to really experience this feeling, within our different characters. 

All of this leads to our production of the play having an even greater effect on our audience. 

Putting it in an actual nightclub also opens a lot of other boundaries, such as having an active bar running throughout the performance, where the audience can informally get up and purchase a drink - just like what it would be like at night out in a nightclub. This also adds to the overall atmosphere, rising the audience's engaging into the play up even higher.

Preparation/method acting - If given the chance to put on this play again, I wold certainly like to try a different approach in preparing for all the different kinds of roles. I would like to take the role of a method actor and actually go and study the character of a bouncer at a nightclub; how they act, react, encounter and their general being. I feel doing this will enhance my characterisation and therefore my performance very much so - it being a more believable approach across to the audience, and meeting this essence and feeling of the play. 

Also, studying at a nightclub, can also prepare me for my roles as a group of giggly, party girls, and some loud, party lads, to really see what them sort of characters are really like on a night out in a club.

Working on 'Bouncers' by John Godber - responses to the script and workshopping, developing and shaping of ideas creatively

When first reading through the script of one of John Godber's most famous comedy plays Bouncers, I was immediately attracted to the simple, dry and comical conversations between the bouncers, the majority being quick, one sentenced bits of dialogue to fulfil a play that is fast paced and comical. I especially liked the way that John Godber portrayed a certain sense of thickness and lack-of-intelligence-and-common-sense within the bouncers when speaking to eachother - Judd: I got a basket meal for nothing yesterday. Eric: when? Judd: yesterday.  There was a lot of this sort of conversation between the bouncers throughout the play where the characters were just being plain thick towards eachother and having an atmosphere of awkwardness over their communication - which was very enjoyable to work on as it really shows just difficult it is for these bouncers to hold a normal, 'everyday' conversation with eachother. 

One of the other elements of the script and play itself that I liked very much, was how John Godber scripted the actors to play so many different characters in such a short space of time to convey comedy and fast pace, constructing the play as theatrical and almost in a cartoon stylised way. These aspects of the play and script will really come as an advantage to an audience as the multi-rolling and the fast pace, cartoon-like essence of it, will have strong effect audience members to engage them and feel the comical mood and atmosphere of the play throughout, making bouncers a performance that is enjoyed by both audiences and actors, and creative teams working and performing the play. 

We workshopped a lot of ways in effectively getting across this multi-rolling element if the play and how we can strongly initiate changes between the different characters, going along with the obvious techniques of physicality of characters and voices of the different characters. The script does a very nice thing where at the majority of the different character changes and the shifting of scenes throughout the play, the new characters (ones that have been changed into) introduce themselves with their name and, for the girls especially, a short description of their various personalities so that audience can get an understanding of one, the character changes and the contrast within that change,  and two, an understanding of the new character to be played - which can also be very helpful for the actor when portraying this character multi-rolling. 

But when workshopping ways in which we could further show a change in character, we focused a lot on physicality (body language, how the walk/stand/sit, actions etc) of the different characters and also voice, and how the voice of an actor is a vital technique to focus on when working on character multi-rolling. We wanted to have a way of showing the switching of characters that is clear to the audience and comical at the same, and allows the change in voice and physicality to link in nicely with it. We workshopped lots of different ideas, before deciding the best, including walking off stage as one character and coming back on as another, through various movement e.g. Turns, jumps, bending down, crouching etc. After workshopping lots of different ways, we found that walking on and off would be distracting and more importantly time wasting which will lose the attention of the audience. Movements such a jumping etc. we found, were too everyday-like movements which I actually realised we do a lot within the various characters, so it would of becoming confusing and also not as obvious to audience members. However, when workshopping the turning idea we found that it was very effective as the turn would symbolise a change in body language, voice etc and create a whole new different character. The process of the turn would be the transformation from one character into the next. I found this the most effective way in characterizing and representing the multi-rolling and initiating the changes and switches between the different characters, because it was obvious, easy, comical - as it is unexpected - and has an essence to cartoon style to it. 

John Godber's various different characters within Bouncers are interesting because the different character groups - lads, girls, bouncers - and the odd separate characters included in the play to convey this essence of a night out in a Northern nightclub, are all so different to one and another, and so entirely contrasting. This is a very big advantage when it comes to keeping our audience engaged into the performance because if the different character were all very similar to eachother in personality, being and essence then an audience would get rather bored as when seeing the change and switching in characters, they would expect complete contrasts between the different characters to be much more enjoyed by the performance as a whole. The script also shows that the conversations between the different groups of characters are very stereotypical - e.g. Lads- girls, sex, drinks etc. Girls- clothes, boyfriends, hair etc. Bouncers- the job, interests, experiences etc.  Having this aspect in the script can really help the actors get into their different characters and can be very comical, enjoyable and nostalgic for audience members.

To summarise, my overall response to the script of John Godber's play Bouncers is that it is audience-engaging - either when reading it or watching a performance of the play. I love the mixture of simple conversation, speeches of various characters, and monologues of thoughts and feelings and portraying emotions from some of the different characters. 

The stage directions are clear and detail - and with a play where one of the main elements is multi-rolling between lots of different groups of characters - clear and detailed stage directions are vital and very helpful in rehearsals. 

The play is fun, comical, inappropriate, but rather serious and true at times, making the whole essence to it and whole play itself enjoyable for audiences everywhere - really conveying the main essence of the play, being the typical night-out experience to a nightclub with giggly, bitchy and party girls, loud, drunken lads, other night-club goers and a smooth talking DJ and many other comical characters involved with a nightclub night out (preparation or other goers)... All from the point of veiw and perspectives of 4 down to earth but awkward, comical bouncers working at the club.

'Bouncers' research of past productions - national tour 2012

Video of the 2012 national tour of Bouncers - Rehearsals : http://youtu.be/fSNhbXWkSnk

This was a very helpful video to watch when we were starting to work on 'bouncers' as it really broke down on the aspects of the play and, kind of, what to expect from it. It also gives you a brief summary and a different interpretation to the characters - as each of the 4 actors speak about their roles - which was very helpful when working on character profiles and annotating scripts in regards to context. 

This is a video of a rehearsal from the national tour of 'bouncers' in 2012. 

'Bouncers', a comedy play written by John Godber - research into the play; John Godber's original intentions

John Godber's original intentions of his 1977 play comedy bouncers was to get across to some friends of his who did lots of sport and though that play and theatre were for wooses. So he wrote 'Bouncers' to get across that plays weren't just for wooses. One of the main elements of the play and how it should be performed is the portraying of playing so many completely different characters in such a short space of time and John Godber created this element so that the play was theatrical, quick and in a cartoon stereotypical stylised way. 

Characters:

The Bouncers

Young hothead, Les (Rosie/Kev/Wak)

Excitable, Judd (Cheryl/Elaine/Terry/Barber)

Leader-of-the-pack, Lucky Eric (Maureen/Female Swedish pornstar/Baz) - one of the few character that expresses how he really feels

Strong but silent, Ralph (Suzy/Jerry/Nobby the French postman(pornstar)/Wak/DJ)another character that expresses how he feels, capable of unleashing his sharp toungue or even a judo chop when the occasion calls for it.

The main focus is on the four bouncers and the dry conversations between them; snippets of wisdom hidden behind the courage and swagger, seeing everything through strict sobriety and simmering irritation at the club-goers they encounter.

But the actors also dart skilfully between various characters at fast speed to bubble up a colourful story of a whole night out at a northern nightclub, called Mr. Cinders. The scenes shift seamlessly from giggling girls dancing and fanning tears away from their faces after a cheating boyfriend is discovered in the nightclub corner, to drunken lads laughing at graffiti on toilet walls. With appearances of a smooth talking DJ, two scouse lads on a night out and other fun and enjoyable characters.

The play has its poignant moments too, when Lucky Eric breaks out to reflect on the times when bouncers are called upon to set moral limits in the face of female vulnerability.

Most of all though bouncers delivers lots of laughs. And maybe a little more sympathy for those who mann the doors of our younger years.

Task 2 - 'Bouncers' - developing and shaping ideas creatively - music and engaging audience

1. This week (3rd - 7th Nov), we focused on detailing the performance as a whole using an aspect of music. We decided as a company that as the theme of the play bouncers is all about a night out at a night club for the various different groups of characters, we thought that an appropriate decision to make was to have background music playing in the background to create the atmosphere of a night club and to strongly portray the whole aspect of the performance. but also, in both hairdresser/barbers scene with the 'girls' and 'lads', we have some typical radio music playing in the background, and in the pub scene with Lads, some typical pub music, just to give that extra feel of the contrast with the different locations within the play and further convey the change in atmospheres that comes along with the multi-rolling between the different characters. The songs we have chosen:

Bouncers, outside the club - 'dirty love' by wilkinson and 'Blue Jeans' MK dark blue club remix - we thought these songs were a good idea to have playing in the background (to symbolise they're playing inside the club and that the bouncers are outside), because they are both current club songs, and people in the audience can relate as it creates a nostalgic feel for the members that have experienced clubbing and the sort of atmosphere surrounding there. 

Girls, in hairdresser - 'shake it off' by Taylor Swift. Lads, in barbers - 'Fools Gold' by stone roses - We thought these songs would be perfect to have playing in the hairdresser/barbers scene as it creates a stereotypical chilled out atmosphere that is conveyed in a hairdressers or barbers - radio in the background playing typical radio songs. With the song in the Barbers with the lads, we looked at the characters of 'the lads' and decided that it's the sort of music that they would favour, also, this song is a song included on a FIFA game which is played heavily by the male population, further showing that this sort of song would be favoured in a typical place for male.

Lads, pub scene 'old yellow bricks' by Arctic Monkeys - we thought this song would be highly appropriate to create an atmosphere of a pub, as stereotypically, you get a majority of the masculine population in pubs - 'lads' - and the Arctic Monkeys are a very popular band within the male population, making this song suit a typical male place like a pub. 

We made a not of these songs, and I annotated my script showing when abouts the songs we have, so far, are played.

We also made an effort to talk about engaging the audience throughout the performance. We had ideas of when the audience are first coming into the performance - the night club - we act as our bouncers in a sort of real life situation where we are welcoming them into the performance - as bouncers would when welcoming people into a night club. We are also thinking about what the bouncers would be saying to our audience to create this illusion that we are bouncers welcoming people into a nightclub .... "Can I see some ID", "no trouble tonight please", "evening, love", "have a good night fellas" etc. and we would actually say these things to our audience.

The good thing about doing this is it really and further strongley creates this atmosphere of arriving and being at a club for a night out - which is really, the whole main essence of this comedic play by John Godber. Also, members in our audience that have been clubbing before and know how it feels and what it's like, can effectively relate, creating a real nostalgic feel for them - which is always an advantage.