John Godber’s ‘Bouncers’ at NGHS

“If your name’s not down, you’re not coming in!”
‘Bouncers’ by John Godber at NGHS

Part of our ethos here at school is to push the boundaries and encourage our girls out of their comfort zones.

Our annual Sixth Form studio performances are no exception. Featuring complex, difficult, sometimes brutal subjects, our Sixth Form girls don’t shy away from tackling some of society’s most challenging stories. 

Following on from the success of last year’s production of ‘100’ by Neil Monaghan, which dealt with the difficult subject of suicide and the after life, this year’s production of ‘Bouncers’ by John Godber featured four of our girls in a gender-swapped look at the underbelly of a city nightclub. It certainly takes bravery and guts to stand on stage in front of your Head, talking about sex, drugs and rock’n’roll.

 

 

A liberal amount of swearing, innuendo and X-rated references gave the audience a bit of a shock but the hilarious dialogue and even more hilarious accents and dance moves gave us a lot to laugh about.

But what made this production even more special was the fact that the four students not only performed in it, but also produced and directed it too. It really was a four-woman show!

We interviewed two of the stars, Aminah (who played Terry/Elaine) and Lauren (who played Kev/Rosie) about what the play meant to them:

 

 

Q. Why did you decide to do this particular play?

Lauren: “As a group we love John Godber since being introduced to him at GCSE. We also love the fast-paced action and dialogue as well as the endless multi-rolling, and the comedic aspect obviously! However, as an all female cast, we loved this play and chose it to challenge the stereotypes it mocks. John Godber’s aim was to deliver the issue with nights out and to show the ‘average’ night out of a UK town and the problems it can contain, we felt that four girls delivering this message was even more powerful.”

Aminah: “We wanted to do something different. Having done classics, (Pride and Prejudice), deep-thought provoking pieces, (100) and high school familiars (High School Musical) we wanted to push the boundaries a little and put on a play that would not only excite and impress as usual but also greatly entertain. We knew John Godber’s Bouncers would do just that.”

 

 

Q. What were the main challenges in performing it as women?

Lauren: “I would say our biggest challenge was understanding some of the language and references used, not because they were slightly older – just because we hadn’t experienced calling someone names like that and the ‘laddish’ banter and behaviour. After a while and lots of characterisation work, we definitely stepped into our roles and started to understand how our bouncer character’s mind worked, and it became much easier to perform.”

Aminah: “To tell the truth, it didn’t even cross our minds that we were doing anything particularly extraordinary putting on Bouncers as an all-female cast. It wasn’t until the John Godber Company quote retweeted it that we realised that maybe we were doing something a bit out of the ordinary. Perhaps the biggest challenge we faced performing it as women was learning to let go of our inhibitions and anxieties and be okay being loud and taking up space – something that characters in this play most definitely do. We can’t thank NGHS enough for giving us a safe and supportive environment in which we are free to be creative and push boundaries!”

 

 

Q. What was your favourite bit of the play?

Lauren: “As a whole cast, I would say our favourite scene was the ‘bluey’ scene. Not because it was suggestive, but because it was so different to anything we’d been able to produce before. We got so much positive feedback to how it looked and we were so proud of ourselves for staging it so successfully, not only this but once again an all-female cast performing this scene was definitely challenging the gender stereotypes! It also definitely helped that we could hardly keep a straight face the first few times we read this, and have had many rehearsals rolling around with laughter after trying to stage it.”

Aminah: “My favourite bit had to be the ‘lad’ scenes. Featuring Baz, Terry, Jerry and Kev, these scenes epitomised the stereotypical man and adding the edge of the characters getting progressively drunker really let us run free.”

Q. What do you hope the audience takes away from the performance?

Lauren: “I think we’d want the audience to have a good laugh and enjoy the whole experience, but also understand how a night out can go from ‘banterous’ to distasteful, and not just occasionally but on a regular basis. And the fact that this play is much more than the comedy it initially seems to be on the cover.”

Aminah: “Our main aim was to make people laugh — I’d say we definitely achieved that — but it became clear during rehearsal and development that this play was more than just a comedy. Bouncers serves as a commentary on night-life culture in society and sheds some light on the dark aspects about it. We hope that the audience will take away with them a bit more awareness of the issues surrounding those late “Friday nights and Saturdays too”, the issue of questionable consent and assault being addressed particularly in this play.”

 

 

Q. Anything else you want to add about it?

Lauren: “I thoroughly enjoyed producing, directing and performing this play, and I know for a fact that the others did too. We are so grateful to be able to have opportunities like these and it would not be possible without the support of our school. I am also so grateful for my fellow classmates, and how we push each other and create environments where we feel comfortable to perform and produce anything. That is definitely a feeling I will treasure. I will be forever grateful to NGHS and specifically the Drama Department here who made it possible.”

Aminah: “Putting on this show without the safety net of the wonderful Miss Oakley was scary to say the least, but we can’t thank her enough for the opportunity to do so. Being able to direct the play ourselves was, to me, the epitome of theatre, having complete creative control, and made for an all the more special experience.”

Well done to all four girls, it really was a show to remember. And thankfully we don’t have long to wait before we see these talented girls on stage again – in our Senior School production of ‘West Side Story’ next month.