‘Bouncers 1990s Remix’ by John Godber and ‘Shakers-Restirred’ by John Godber and Jane Thornton

For my Coursework I studied ‘Bouncers – 1990s Remix’ by John Godber,

and ‘Shakers-Restirred’ by John Godber and Jane Thornton.

For my Coursework I studied ‘Bouncers – 1990s Remix’ by John Godber,

and ‘Shakers-Restirred’ by John Godber and Jane Thornton. Originally

set in the 1980s but later adapted for the nineties, the plays are

often performed together. They tell stories about urban nightlife from

the points of view of nightclub bouncers and cocktail waitresses. Each

play only involves four actors, and they play all the parts. I enjoyed

studying the plays as they use comedy, melodrama and music to portray

some very different characters. I also noticed that sometimes, beneath

the comic aspects of the play, there were more serious messages about

life.

Area of Study 1 – Character and Context

Our play was similar to ‘Bouncers’ and ‘Shakers’ as we worked in

groups of four too.

Our characters were police officers, as we felt that the police see

just as much of the things that go on in nightclubs and bars as

Bouncers do. As well as being police officers, we also played all the

parts of the smaller characters in the bars and clubs. We took this

idea of playing multiple characters from the plays we read.

My main character was a female police officer called Karen Smith. She

comes across as a very strong, blunt and confident character, from a

rough background, but she hides a secret. When Karen was younger her

dad was really violent to her, her mum and her sisters, and it was

years before he was finally caught and arrested. It was as a ten year

old, seeing her dad taken away, and feeling so relieved, that she

decided to be a Police officer when she grew up, so she could help

other people.

(See Role on the wall) I wanted to show the hard and soft side of

Karen’s character, and so I tried really hard to show the reason for

her harshness. At one point she speaks directly to the audience about

her past; this is when her true character is revealed. The others in

my group played the following roles:

Matt – Tom Rivers – a police officer who has only recently joined the

force. He is gay, and is worried that people will find out. He tries

to seem extra tough.

Sam – Ron Brown - he has been a police officer many years and thinks

he knows everything. His wife died a year ago and now all he has is

his work.

Anna – Marie Graves – a young policewoman who is very pretty and