Bounce into town

Popular British comedy Bouncers to be staged in the UAE

Popular comedy Bouncers by Streetwise Fringe Theatre will return to Dubai in the last quarter of this month.

Performances of the John Godber play will be staged at the Emirates Auditorium in Crowne Plaza Dubai.

Featuring four young British actors, the play is about nightclub bouncers and the people they meet as part of their work.

Unique

The performance is unique with respect to the fact that the four actors will play close to 30-odd roles without any costume or stage setting changes. No props will be used either. The change will be conveyed through lighting and the very performances by the four youngsters including Jonathan Floyd, John Carter, Paul Shay and Matthew Duquenoy.

Bouncers is a 20-year-old comedy written in a timeless manner which has retained its appeal over the years. Essentially about teenagers, the ridiculousness of nightclub behaviour and the irony of life form the crux of the play.

"It shows how shallow pub culture can be and that there is more to life than waking with a bad headache," explained John Carter, one of the four players in the show.

The show is being presented in Dubai for the third time and was extremely well received the previous times according to the promoter Philippe Duquenoy.

He said: "Theatre is not about three walls and a red curtain. Bouncers is different and about creative talent.

"Without any stage settings, the actors manage to convey their surroundings with their performances."

Quickfire humour

"The play itself features very quickfire humour that can be appreciated by anybody. "The speed with which each of the actors morph from one character to another is remarkable... the action keeps switching."

He explained that the plot revolves around three groups of people. "There are four girls out celebrating the 21st birthday of one of them, four lads on a night out and four bouncers outside the club," Duquenoy said. "It is a funny look at club life in England."

He said the troupe have just completed sell-out performances in Mumbai and are on their way back to the UK.

The 80-minute Bouncers will initially be staged in Abu Dhabi at the Crowne Plaza on April 17 and 18, with tickets priced at Dhs 100. The Dubai performances will be on April 30, May 1 and 2. The tickets are priced at Dhs 75, 100 and 125.