All Saints Dramatic Society 
Corpus Christi Parish Centre, Boscombe 
Caroline Burr
13 September 2024
John Godber is an English playwright, mainly known for his observational comedies. Bouncers was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 1977, and has enjoyed regular revivals since then, including a tour this year. Shakers came later in 1984 and is co-written by Jane Thornton.
Both comedies concern Northern nightlife in the 1980s. Part of the appeal of the plays is that they are actors’ pieces, because the cast play a variety of roles, therefore they need vocal dexterity and a good deal of physicality. The pieces are also a challenge for the Director because there is only a minimal set and little in the way of costumes or props.
Shakers tells the stories of Carol, Adele, Niki and Mel working in a cocktail bar, where they interact with each other and the, often odious, customers. The play sheds a revealing light on the challenges faced by working class women.
The simple setting of the bar adorned with cocktail glasses, barstools and tables, as well as the costumes, were effective, this was also the case with the make up and hairstyles. Few props were used, so that sweeping, smoking and drinking etc were all mimed.
The Directors Callum Watson and Dave Dellow chose to have all the actors use microphones. I was baffled by this, in what is a fairly small space, and unfortunately, the technology caused some major problems in the first half. The sound kept dropping out, which along with the Northern accents, fast delivery and some poor diction made the story lines difficult to follow. This meant that there were very few laughs, as the audience struggled to understand the plot.
Having said that the monologues were delivered well by Rhianna Au-Webb as Nicki, Nicky Shipton as Carol and Mary Almeida, who was very good throughout, as Adele. Georgie Drake was compelling when discussing her pregnancy scare.
Fortunately, the sound issues were resolved in the second half. Bouncers concerns Les (Tom Maslen), Ralph (Jon Cockeram), Judd (Dean Smith) and Lucky Eric (Mark Richards) as they relive a night in a Yorkshire disco. It has been described as a parody of Saturday Night Fever. The action revolves around those wanting a good time and those stopping a good time being had. It should be by turns hilarious, vulgar, and frenetic. The cast largely succeeded in these requirements, mastering the accents very well and making the transitions from one scenario to the next smoothly and clearly. The various characters that each actor had to play, including women, were all done convincingly, transporting the audience back to the club culture of 40 years ago where the weekend was everything. I particularly liked the scene where the porn film was being watched, including a physical as well as mechanical rewind.
All four actors worked well together, with Mark Richards delivering his monologues persuasively, whilst Tom Maslen had good comic timing. Dean Smith gave a very good physical performance, but was often inaudible, unfortunately. Jon Cockeram, for me, was the star of the evening. His reactions and facial expressions were spot on, and he has great stage presence.
In both plays I would have liked to see fewer straight lines, and to have been reminded where we were with the use of more background sound effects and music. A thumping ‘80s soundtrack, which faded in and out appropriately, would have added to the atmosphere.
Despite the situation with the sound, this was a good attempt at two very testing plays. The cast brought a lot of energy to their performances, so I would encourage you to go and see the work of one of our major playwrights, whose work continues to have appeal because we recognise the universal themes which are portrayed.
