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Welcome to the
The Bouncers 30th Anniversary Tour blogspot
by blogging Bouncer Marc Bolton!

Gutted!! This legendary Bouncers blog and tour has officially come to an end! A big thank you from all at Truck to the magnificent Marc for all his brilliant bloggin'!

Blog #12 – the last ever!! From the Lighthouse, Poole
Guitar Heroes, World Monkey Day and "Who is John Godber?"!

Amy and Matt aping around in the pub on World Monkey Day (left), and (right) Marc and Matt joined by former 'Trucker' Nikki and mate Viv for some well-deserved 'beer and crisp time'!!

Me, Matt, Charlie, Amy and Jack had rented a house in Poole so after dropping my bags off there I went to find the theatre. With a big auditorium, friendly staff and our own personal dressing rooms I was pretty sure we were going to have a good final week of the tour – and I was right!

Having fallen over at the weekend I’d slightly sprained my wrist (long story involving a bladder, a fence and some bags of dry leaves. Oh yes, and Happy Birthday Owen!) but after picking up a barrel and carrying it around for a bit, I was relieved to find that it wasn’t going to hamper my performance at all.

We had a full house on Tuesday, which was good, but what was even better is that Amy told us the Wednesday matinée had never actually existed so we wouldn’t have to do it! After the show we had a drink with the Artistic Director of the Lighthouse, Robin before stocking up on beers and heading back to the house to play Guitar Hero II on the PS2. You have to play notes on a special guitar as they appear on the screen in order to play the tune. I was pants, but not as pants as Matt who got booed off by the crowd!! Turned out Amy had a real flair for it and got well into the hardest song on the hardest level - could have a budding rock guitarist in our midst there I reckon!

On our matinée-free Wednesday we had a lie in then me, Matt, Charlie and Amy had a wander down to the quay to have a look at the shops and pubs. Had a lovely fish pie in the Poole Arms which if you’re ever in Poole is really easy to spot as its front has been covered in green tiles. Went back to the house and watched ‘The Hotel Inspectors’ episode of Fawlty Towers before heading off to the theatre. Turned out Billy Bragg was doing a gig there before us (which we listened to over the tannoy – excellent stuff) and we managed to have a quick chat with him when he’d finished. Really really nice bloke. Good show that night and then we headed back to the tiled pub for a few post-performance libations.

Thursday was Monkey World day!! Charlie had found a leaflet about it in the tourist information office (and got VERY excited about the prospect of going) so me, Matt and Amy went with her to meet the monkeys. What a brilliant place!! We saw chimps, gibbons, orang-utans, spider monkeys, howler monkeys and a load of lemurs, one of which came right up and sat on the fence next to me while one of the keepers was telling us about them! There was also a giant playground with huge slides, swings and climbing frames so we all had a go at being monkeys oursleves! (see Ape impressions above!)

While me, Matt, Jimmy and Jack were standing outside as the bouncers before the show, a couple of 17 year old girls came up and started chatting to us. Turned out they’d been studying drama for 4 years and were watching the show with their school and were wondering if we could supply them with any good questions for the talkback so they could impress their teachers. We suggested they ask about the Brechtian influences on the play, but they had no idea who Brecht was, so we suggested they ask what influences John Godber might have had then, and when they asked (no word of a lie) “Who’s John Godber?” we told them we couldn’t speak to them any more and moved away. Drama, for 4 years? Studying what?!!

On Friday I went up to Windsor to visit some friends. Good show that night. As there weren’t as many students a lot of the subtle stuff got laughs as well which was nice to hear. After the show, beers, Buzz and bed!

On Saturday I got up early and went into the theatre to leave Murder notes for everyone, then went back to the house to await the matinée massacre! Unfortunately Charlie, my detective, also decided to go in early so she found and removed all the notes (except Jimmy’s, so at least I had one victim). To throw her off the scent though I’d left myself a note so she still had a bit of detecting to do, but she eventually sussed it out and I was arrested. Saturday’s matinée went well and, after stocking up on grub from Marks & Spencers, I went home for a lie down before packing the car ready to get off home after the show!

And that’s that – the end of my tour blogs! We’re at Spring Street, the home of Bouncers, for the next 2 weeks which I’m SOOO looking forward to, then I’ll be playing the Big Bad Wolf alongside Amy Thompson’s Little Red Riding Hood in Hull Truck’s Christmas show Little Red Riding Hood, which if you haven’t seen it is absolutely brilliant! Hope you’ve enjoyed reading these blogs as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them and if you do come along to see Bouncers (or any Hull Truck show I might be in in the future), do say hello!

Blog #11 – From the Plowright Theatre, Scunthorpe
Please note: In his own words, Marc "will be more exciting next week, I promise! "

L to R: Even Scunthorpe's mice were eager to get a glimpse of this historic production of Bouncers, whilst Matt got all excited by Marc's suggestion that they go home and play X Box for two hours instead!

After a quick drive up to Scunthorpe on Wednesday, I found that the set looked a lot bigger than we expected. Graham had managed to get the full size of the walls in and not the half walls we’d thought we’d be using. While we were stood on the door John drove past so we knew he would be watching, and he came backstage at the interval to tells us he was enjoying it so that chuffed us all up. Matt's mum and Dad were in so we had a drink with them after the show then went back to Matt's and watched an old episode of Monkey on Sky.

On Thursday, we went to a garden centre so Matt could choose a pot for the rose he’d bought his friend Mr Roy (ex-partner of Basil Brush!) who’d come to see us in Bracknell and who will be celebrating his Ruby Wedding anniversary very soon. John popped over before the show but didn’t stop; Sarah, Dale and Rachel from Hull Truck were also in so we had a chat with them in the bar after the show.

On Friday I played Hitman Blood Money for six hours on Matt’s X-Box 360 (Good work 47) before we went to a retail park for a scoot round the shops, then back home to Matt's spaghetti bolognese. Darren Johnson (who’s playing the Dame in the Plowright theatre's Christmas panto "Aladdin" popped in to say hello before the show to tell me he was watching tonight. He also told me Bouncers is his all time favourite show…so no pressure there then! Fortunately he really enjoyed it, so much so that he bought us all a beer afterwards.

On Saturday morning Matt did a phone interview for a local radio station and won their quiz! I played Hitman again then we went to the pictures and watched Lions For Lambs. Very well-made film but as I’d been after a couple of hours of high excitement, a 2 hour examination on the War on Terror didn’t really hit the mark. Played some more Hitman (think I might have to get an X-Box like!) and had pizzas for tea then watched You Only Live Twice. Matt's sister Amy and her fella watched the show and, after quick drink and a chat with them, I set off home.

Blog #10 – Cambridge and Bracknell (very nearly home!)

Charlie shows off her Doggy poster from Matt (oh the generosity!) and the nightclub-esque exterior of the Wilde Theatre in Bracknell.

After a week off, mostly spent learning lines and playing with my new puppy, I arrived in Cambridge feeling refreshed and raring to go. Have to say it was a bit of a shock finding the Mumford. Don’t know what I was expecting but a double doorway tucked round the back of the Anglia Ruskin University hadn’t been in my imaginings! Matt gave Charlie a dog poster he’d got for her (she’s always reading books about dogs) then when we’d all arrived, we set about the fastest line run possible – 25 minutes – before getting ready for the show.

We’d just taken up our positions on the door when 5 drunk, scruffy blokes turned up with their ‘chaperone’. I can only assume they were part of some local community programme or something, but they were absolutely hammered. If we’d been real bouncers they definitely wouldn’t’ve been allowed in! The rest of the audience was made up of large parties of school children armed with notebooks and evaluation sheets, who screamed and whistled their way through the performance. Had a beer in a very nice pub, The Tram Depot, then Matt followed me back to my house where I introduced him to our puppy, Zeb at about 12:30am.

Was awoken at 6am on Tuesday by Zeb and then had to play with him all morning until Matt got up at 12pm. Watched American Movie, which is one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen, then went with Eve (my wife) to the doctor’s to see the midwife. She put a microphone on Eve’s belly and we got to hear our baby’s heartbeat – very cool!

Just before the matinée on Wednesday I made an aeroplane out of a large sheet of cardboard and flew it from the top of the theatre aisle right down to the stage – awesome! After the show I grabbed a kip backstage then went and had a dirty KFC with Matt. Matt successfully detected Amy as the new murderer because she’d used a piece of cutlery to kill Charlie and Matt remembered that MO from Eastbourne when she’d killed him with a spoon up the nose. Another former Hull Truck actor, Bill Ilkley, watched the evening show and we had a drink with him afterwards.

6am start again on Thursday – I am going to strangle that bloody puppy – then Matt left at 9am to visit a school. Had to set off for Bracknell (39 miles away) at 3pm to be sure I made the 6pm call because the traffic’s always murder going round the south circular. The Wilde Theatre looked just like a nightclub with its neon sign outside (reminded me a bit of Kikos) and it’s disco lighting rig inside – perfect for us! Another audience of youngsters studying the play, plus a couple of mates of mine, Robin and Sophie, who I met in the bar afterwards. Also bumped into another mate, Adrian, who was playing Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley in the studio theatre. Small world!

Blog #9 – Swan Theatre, Worcester (nearly home...!)

Marc and Matt do their best Smashy & Nicey for Wyvern Radio (left) and Matt looking dapper backstage!

Me and Matt stayed with Bob and Sally Harper this week and totally lucked out - fantastic house, lovely family and the best shower on tour by a long way! The Swan Theatre was beautifully equipped but seemed a lot smaller after The Crucible, but then I suppose any theatre we went into after Sheffield was going to feel small. Tuesday night was pretty much full of GCSE students who really enjoyed themselves and had no idea that our dressing rooms were adjacent to the girls toilets – thanks for the interval entertainment ladies…very interesting comments!

Matt, Jack, Charlie and I went for a curry after the show then had an early night ready for our interview on Wednesday. All had a touch of the post-Crucible blues I think. Sheffield was like playing the West End, and the audiences’ reactions were amazing, but I’m sure the good people of Worcester will help us get over it!

I don’t sleep too well away from home and last night was particularly rubbish. No fault of the room, I just miss being in my own bed. All four of us did an interview for BBC Worcester today with a DJ called Tony Fisher who got us to do the opening Bouncers rap live. Bridget, who works for the Swan’s Marketing Department, also became the first person to actually honour her promise and get me a copy of a radio interview. Cheers for that Bridget, much appreciated. Me, Matt and Charlie watched England lose to 2:1 Russia in the Pitcher and Piano then went and performed to another full house. Felt very tired after the show (because of my bad sleep) but a pint of Guinness in The Lamb & Flag soon put that right.

Me and Mr.Booth did another radio interview on Thursday, this time for Wyvern Radio, which was pre-recorded and a lot more relaxed; had a really good laugh. Turned out that both Matt and I have family who live near Worcester so we went off and spent rest of the day with our respective relatives. I had lunch with my aunty and uncle in a lovely pub called the Plough and Harrow, while Matt headed off for some grub with his folks before making a beeline for the sale at Debenhams. Got himself some jeans, a shirt and a rather dapper jacket for less than 80 quid – result.

More golf for me and Matt on Friday. Matt sank a 25 yard putt to score a birdie 2 on the 8th which was easily the shot of the tour so far! Good review in the Worcester News, and Bob and Sally bought us some beers to say thanks for getting them some tickets for that night’s (Friday) show. Good show too, which I was pleased about because not only did Sally once direct an amateur version of Bouncers at the Swan, but Bob was her Lucky Eric.

One lady got up during the show and went and stood by the door so the smoke we use couldn’t affect her. Funny thing is, that smoke is stage smoke and evaporates instantly when it encounters your breath so it has absolutely no effect on you whatsoever. People seem to forget that we stand in the middle of loads of it night after night and we’re fine! Always makes me smile when people start coughing the second it appears during the show; must just be psychological I suppose. All went for a post-show curry, where Jack ate the biggest naan bread I’ve ever seen!

Saturday was spent picking over the remnants of the Debenhams’ sale then me and Matt went to the cinema to kill a few hours. We’d wanted to watch Kingdom but the only film that fitted our schedule was The Dark Is Rising, more’s the pity. Harry Potter rip-off and nowhere near as good. Oh well. Still had time to kill after that so Matt bought some newspapers and we went back to the theatre. While he read them I watched a movie on my iPod (I am LOVIN’ that iPod movie thing!) then we tried to sort out a TV so we could keep tabs on the Rugby World Cup Final during the show – but no joy!

After the show it was straight in the car and off home to start our week off – excellent!! Mind you, I’m going to be spending most of it learning my lines for Hull Truck’s Christmas show Little Red Riding Hood, but it’ll still be nice being at home for a few days, especially kipping my own bed.

Blog #8– The Crucible, Sheffield

'Backstage Bolton' (getting into character as Wolfy in Little Red Riding Hood at Truck this Xmas?!) and Kiko's Nightclub in Pontefract (right); the original inspiration for Mr Cinders, the club in Bouncers.

Stayed with Matt this week and arrived on Monday only to find a pigeon had flown into his kitchen window and left a perfect outline – you could even see its eye!

Was met on Tuesday morning by a lovely lass called Stephanie from the Crucible’s press department and after the interview we went over to the theatre so I could have a look at the stage. It was brilliant – much bigger than our other venues, and with audience on 3 sides it meant we’d have to re-block a lot of the moves.

Went back to Matt’s for a kip and got a phone call from Hull Truck’s Nick Lane asking me if I wanted to play The Big Bad Wolf in their Christmas show Little Red Riding Hood – I said I’d love to! Rehearsals start while we’re performing Bouncers in Hull so I’ll have to get learning the lines pretty quick!

First night had 910 people in! Show went really well and John was pleased so we were all very chuffed, especially as there were some cheeky Truck monkeys in and a load of local reviewers. Matt had a workshop on Wednesday so I got a lift in with him and went and checked out the local papers. Good review in The Star so I bought a few copies to hand round then met up with the others to have a bit of grub in Ruskins opposite the theatre. From our table we watched a bloke doing some Free Running training in the middle of a patch of grass outside – shirt off, naturally. All looked very impressive, but slightly showy-offy, so we decided to go back to the theatre for a snooze....

12 coach loads of teenage students that night (over 900 in again) and what an unbelievable reaction! It was like being rock stars! They started screaming the moment the music started and didn’t stop until we walked off at the end of Act 1, then did exactly the same thing through Act 2. Totally bonkers!! Everything got a response (regardless of whether it warranted one or not) which meant the show ran for over 2 hours.

The talkback after the show was fun and we had a question we’d not had before – “When was the first time you saw Bouncers?”. Mine was at the Riverside and it was something I’ve never forgotten. 4 blokes switching characters in the blink of an eye and making me laugh so much I nearly peed, and now, 20 years later, I’m part of its 30th Anniversary Tour – how mad is that?! More Truck lot in tonight so we had a good laugh in the bar afterwards.

Thursday morning I woke up to half a trout pout!! Matt had given me some blue cheese the night before (which I don’t really like but we’d had a few beers) and I must have had a reaction to it because the right side of my top lip looked like I’d been punched in the gob! I took an antihistamine and we headed off to the golf course.

The show that night (950 people) was the best we’d ever done it. Everything was spot on, and the audience were absolutely brilliant – laughing and listening in all the right places – and my lip had gone down so a top night all round! Met the Friends of the Theatre for a drink in the bar after the show and had a really good chat. They’d all enjoyed the show and were just sorry we were only there for a week.

Friday night and there was over 900 in again, including Lee, the music Squirrel, our Lighting Designer Graham and his wife, and Daisy, an actress Matt had recently worked with in Unleashed at Hull Truck. On the way home, Matt drove out and showed me Kikos Nightclub, the original inspiration for Mr.Cinders, the club in Bouncers.

Saturday’s matinée had about 500 in which, considering England were playing, wasn’t too bad! John (Godber) and his Dad were watching and Jack and I went for a drink with them afterwards. John’s Dad told me he’d seen the show tons of times, even one performed in Hollywood! After saying goodbye to them, I headed off to grab a buttie before getting ready for our last Sheffield performance; a sell-out show, with almost 1000 people in, including (Hull Truck's) Nick Lane and wife Fee. Had a drink with them in the bar after then set off home to look forward to 2 days off. Need them too as my voice was feeling a bit ragged by the end of the week – big space to fill is that Crucible! Fantastic week though, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, just wish we could have those audiences for every show!

Blog #7– From Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne

A deliriously-excited Matt (left) before the Bouncers crew head out for an All-You-Can-Eat Chinese feast in Eastbourne!

Stayed at my parents-in-law’s flat in Pevensey Bay this week. Saved some dosh but missed being with the rest of the gang – especially when I went round and saw their digs; a 3-storey house which backed on to the marina!

The Devonshire Park is a lovely theatre and everyone made us very welcome, but not as welcome as the 400 screaming students who greeted us on the first night!! They went absolutely mad for the show and whooped and clapped at virtually everything we did – brilliant! Gave us a standing ovation at the end, and one of them sent me a really nice email via my website (cheers Bridget!).

We also met the Friends of the Theatre that night, and they were very complimentary; said our acting was of a high standard and that they could follow most of it. Wednesday’s matinée was slightly less well attended, but the weather was good so we put it down to that! After the show, a group of about 8 pensioners were waiting for us outside the stage door to tell us they’d really enjoyed the show and that we mustn’t judge Eastbourne on the size of that audience! They also said that Eastbourne needed us and that we must come back soon.

Matt started coming down with a cold today, which Jack and then Jimmy would catch during the week; let's hope I don’t get it for Sheffield! The Wednesday evening show had a few more bods in, including a front row of girls who, during one of my speeches as the DJ (when I ask the girls to take their bras and knickers off) actually mimed taking them off and throwing them at me – very off-putting!

Went back to the others’ digs after the show to watch a dvd I bought off the internet; a documentary called Bouncers about some doormen from America. It also had some footage of the Lenny Mclean which was excellent, but it made us realise what a dangerous job being a real bouncer is; decided we’d definitely be sticking to acting after the tour! Cheers for the mushroom risotto too Jack!

On Thursday Matt and I went off to play golf. Glorious day again, and although the course was beautifully picturesque, the fairways were really, really narrow. I lost 10 balls over 18 holes and Matt lost about 5 – very depressing! I booked us all in to an awesome chinese restaurant that night (Happy Dragon in Pevensey Bay) – £14 to eat all you can! The food, which you just keep ordering, was absolutely delicious and the service fantastic. Top night!

We also decided to play ‘Murder’ over the next couple of days too. You write Murderer, Detective and however many Victims there’ll be on scraps of paper then each pick one out of a hat but only the Detective declares who they are. The Murderer then has to try and bump off all the Victims before the Detective figures out who it is. You can play all day up to the half, then continue again after the show...

Good show Friday night, even my DJ dancing got a round of applause! Trouble was, some girls near the front then shouted “get ‘em off sexy”, which made me go a bit do-lally in my first DJ speech! “A few bottles of champagne…to a number of people” became “A few bobbles of champagne…to a thumbful of people”, but after that I was ok! My parents-in-law loved it, and in the pub afterwards my father-in-law bought us all a drink, so everyone loved them too!

(And so it was back to the 'Murder' game..)Jimmy got murdered in the shower (poison), Charley got strangled with a belt and Jack was stabbed with a knife. Luckily I spotted Matt before he could finish off Amy so his killing spree came to an end!

We’ve known for a while now that our next venue, Sheffield’s Crucible, is sold out for all 7 shows – 900 people per show – so we’re all really looking forward to Tuesday and the rest of next week. John’s coming across on Tuesday to do a bit of re-blocking because the Crucible has a thrust stage and we’ll need to make sure everyone on both sides as well as those out front will be able to see what’s going on. Very excited about next week! 900 a show!! Geddin!!!

Blog #6– Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds

Jack and Matt test out the stage (left) before hitting the town for a Rock N Roll time in Bury St Edmunds.....!

Fantastic digs! Matt, Jack, Charley and I stayed with Mr & Mrs Bird and they were brilliant. Delicious cooked breakfasts, entertaining stories, situated right next to a pub and only 2 minutes walk from the theatre – perfect!

The Theatre Royal had spent the last 2 years undergoing a refurbishment and had only opened 3 weeks prior to our arrival, so we were the first touring company to perform there. The auditorium reminded me of the Georgian Theatre at Richmond because it was like stepping back in time. All the boxes were beautifully painted, all the seats and benches were polished and upholstered, and the ceiling had a blue sky painted on it. The stage was even smaller than Greenwich but as we were used to that kind of size now I didn’t anticipate any problems... And there weren’t any…with the stage.

Unfortunately their lighting system had a couple of bugs in it and, despite Charlie and Amy’s best efforts, after holding the show for 45 minutes their Artistic Director made the decision to cancel the performance. As it turned out that wasn’t such a disaster because almost everyone called to re-book and we had full houses for the rest of the week!

Me and Matt got another round of golf in too. Weather wasn’t too clever but we had a good first 9 holes then went inside for some grub. We couldn’t sit in the proper bar though because we had jeans and trainers on, but if we tucked our tops in they’d let us eat in the ‘other’ bar. They were quite nice about it though, and the only thing the ‘other’ bar lacked was a view over the golf course, so we tucked ourselves in and had a very nice meal. That was the only day we could play golf because the heavens opened up for most of the rest of the week, then Matt (and then Jack) came down with a cold, so I spent my time exploring the delights of Bury St.Edmonds...

One afternoon passed in the tiny cinema (Run Fat Boy Run was a chick flick and 3:10 To Yuma wasn’t as good as I was hoping) and another was spent walking round the Abbey gardens looking at statues commemorating the roasting of a few locals in the mid-1550s. Saturday’s market was quite interesting, as in amongst all the craft stalls and cheese stalls was one selling airguns, knives and samurai swords. The average age of the people going past was about 60 so it wasn’t that surprising that he wasn’t doing much business!

We all went round to the pub after one show to find them in the middle of the weekly quiz. A couple near us had to leave shortly after we arrived so we took over their answer sheet, asked the bloke to re-cap the questions, finished the quiz and won £45 between the 6 of us! Paid for the beer, but I don’t think we enamoured ourselves with the locals.... And talking of beer, a pint of IPA chilled in Bury St. Edmunds is absolutely delicious. The brewery’s right opposite the theatre so it’s about as tasty and fresh as it’s possible for a pint to be. IPA, we salute you!

Blog #5 – At Greenwich Theatre

Bouncer Matt (left) enjoys a cup of tea before a tee off in Greenwich!

I got to stay at home this week!! Greenwich is about 15 minutes drive from my house so Matt and I didn’t have to leave until 6:20pm to make the half – geddin!

Me and Matt played golf at my local golf course on the sunniest day of the year and we both hit a couple of good shots, so that was money well spent. I had people in every night in Greenwich – wife, parents again, agent, loads of friends – so each show had an extra little buzz for me. It’s great having people in the audience when you know they’re going to watch a really good show and laugh their heads off. Mind you, one friend brought her dog to the bar after one performance and the bloody thing nearly bit my nose off, so it’s not always a good thing having friends around!

Before the Saturday night performance, a (slightly worse for wear) woman from the pub next door came over and took an shine to Jack. She thought we were real bouncers draughted in to keep order in the pub and later, after asking us what was on at the theatre, laughed and shook her head when we said it was a show called Bouncers. She was still laughing and shaking her head as she disappeared back into the pub....

Blog #4 – Bouncing at the Theatre Royal, Buxton

Jimmy and Jack take time off from Bouncing (left) and Matt looks up in awe of the grand auditorium at Buxton Theatre Royal (right)

From the outside, Buxton Theatre Royal it looks as though it hasn’t changed for decades, with its beautiful stained glass awning, white victorian lights, and 2 dome-topped towers. Inside it’s fully equipped and up to date, whilst still retaining all its old-fashioned quaintness.

Not much to do in Buxton mind, and Tour Time can pass reeeeally slowly. There’s only so many meals you can eat, cups of coffee you can drink, papers you can read and films (if you’re lucky enough to have a cinema) you can see, so having decided that golf would be a good way to pass the time on tour, Matt and I walked up the hill to the local golf course one day to see how bad we were at it....

We bought 100 balls each for the driving range and set about showing them who was boss. Neither of us had played for ages so we were impressively awful. I kept hitting mine into the metal roof just above my head (which is no mean feat with a wood) while Matt was getting good distance but never more than an inch above the grass.

The production photos from Oxford were on display in the foyer for the first time in Buxton and they looked wicked. The theatre had a big apron beyond the stage which added to the distance between us and the audience. This wasn’t a problem, until the night Matt’s Mam and Dad were in. A lady on the front row started laughing uncontrollably almost from the word go. It got so bad that at one point she was leaning forward and banging her hand on the stage to emphasise her laughter!

Blog #3 – From the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal

Tom Lister (AKA Emmerdale's Carl King) - friend and former co-star of Marc and Matt - gives Bouncers the thumbs up at the Brewery Arts Centre (above right)

My Mam & Dad only live half an hour from Kendal so Matt and I stopped with them for the first part of this week. With the weather behaving itself, I decided to show Matt round all my old childhood haunts (including the village Memorial Hall where I gave my first ever performance) which I’m sure bored him senseless, but which killed the time and gave us both quite good tans.

The Brewery Arts Centre is a lovely venue, set in the lower regions of the Lakes, with a garden area outside and an intimate theatre which reminded me of Spring St. with it’s close proximity to the audience. Bouncers works best when people are nice and close and the Kendal audiences certainly benefitted from that. My Ma & Pa were in the first night and not knowing what to expect they were totally bowled over – my Mam wanted to go and see it again straight away the next night! I told her she’d have to wait until Greenwich (near where I live) as Kendal was sold out.

The second night in Kendal was very interesting. I’ll say no more, other than we all learned the value of 100% concentration, and the ladies of Blackpool will never be the same again! A mate of mine and Matt’s, Tom Lister (Carl King in Emmerdale), came that night and said he’d thoroughly enjoyed it too. Always nice to have mates in, especially if they’ve had a good time. Third night went very well too and I was gutted we weren’t in Kendal longer. Could’ve definitely filled a week there, and Matt and I could’ve filled up on some more home cooking! Roll on Buxton….

Blog #2– At the New Theatre, Oxford

The Bouncers set: From Box (left) to stage at Oxford (right)

After a weekend of scans and informing families of the impending arrival of a new relative, it was off to Oxford to open the show in front of the paying public. The New Theatre seats 1800 people so when you’re standing on stage the auditorium looks absolutely enormous. It was great to see the small, table-top model from the read-through transformed into a huge, stage-filling set. The tech runs went well (cheers Amy, Charley, Graham, Pip and Sam) and during the Dress Rehearsal, Louise Buckby took a load of production photos for publicity etc.

It was fun standing outside being 'The Bouncers' before the show. I’m naturally nosey anyway so being able to stop people and get them to open their bags and turn out their pockets was a proper bonus! Jack and Jimmy had warned me about how hot I’d get during the show but I was still amazed at how much I sweated and how much water I had to chug during the first performance – now I see why we need a fresh t-shirt per Act! Matt didn’t sweat much though, but then he didn’t during My Favourite Summer either. I’m beginning to think he’s some kind of Replicant.

In the pub afterwards a load of people told us they’d really enjoyed the show so we all felt pretty chuffed. All the shows went well in Oxford and, as John had predicted in rehearsals, the show quickly found its own rhythm. You also soon discover that you can’t switch off either. Bouncers moves at such a pace that if you let your mind wander, even for a second, you’re in big trouble. Cues come so thick and fast that you just don’t have time to do anything but concentrate on what’s coming next. It’s a real physical and mental work out.

Just before we left, a review came out in The Oxford Mail; our write up was excellent - just what we needed before disappearing up north to Kendal! Oh yeah, and John stayed in a hotel that used to be a prison – the one they filmed Porridge and some of The Italian Job in!

Backstage nerves before the first ever performance of the tour (left) and post-show celebrations with the production team (right)

Blog #1 – Rehearsals

I’m in the 30th Anniversary Tour of Bouncers!! Geddin!!! Arrived at Truck on Monday 13th August for the meet-and-greet and first read-through. Great to see all the friends I made in the Spring (with My Favourite Summer), especially Matt (Booth) and Nick (Lane), and with Nick standing in for John (Godber) at the read-through, I spent the morning laughing and joking.

John couldn’t get back to Hull until the Thursday, which didn’t seem to bother anyone unduly, but then again Jimmy (Hornsby), Jack (Brady) and Matt had all done Bouncers before. It was decided that we’d meet for 2 read-throughs on Tuesday and Wednesday morning (under the watchful eye of our Company Stage Manager, Amy Yardley) then spend the rest of the day learning lines – which turned out to be a godsend because being off the book when John got back was a major advantage; rehearsing this production with a script in my hand would’ve been a nightmare, especially as John knows all the characters’ dialogue from start to finish (mind you, he has been doing it for 30 years!).

Scale-wise, John said he wanted to make this the biggest Bouncers yet, with a huge set, some epic music and expansive blocking, but still maintaining the traditional 4 handbags and 2 beer barrels as the only props. Over the next 3 weeks the show began to take shape. Various pieces of music were accepted or rejected by John (top Arctic Monkeys’ track to open the show), and he also introduced some super-slow-motion, which is difficult to get right but will hopefully look brilliant on stage.

As well as updating most of the references, John also came in one day with some new dialogue for the “Sexy Suzy round the back of the disco” scene, bringing this version of Bouncers right up to date by mentioning kids videoing events on their mobile phones. And, following the shooting of a bouncer, John arrived the next day with some new dialogue for Ralph to highlight how the job of being a bouncer has changed dramatically. Having the new dialogue is brilliant because not only does it paint poignantly poetic pictures, we’ll also be the first actors ever to say those lines!

During one rehearsal, John’s wife Jane brought a class of her students in to watch what we were doing. Although it’s still a work in progress there was still a sense of nervousness and a need to get it right. Didn’t want them thinking we’re rubbish! Trouble is, with them being quite young, there weren’t that many bits we could do without them hearing something they maybe shouldn’t, so we did the opening entrances followed by the rap, followed by the slow-mo fight. It was the first time we’d done any of it to an audience and thankfully it all went really well (during the slow-mo you could hear a pin drop which was very encouraging).

One of the most useful rehearsals for me was when our usual room was having some work done to it so we were moved upstairs to a much bigger room. We got a far better idea of the size of the playing area we’d have in venues like Oxford and Sheffield, and of how long our entrances would take. In fact it was at that rehearsal that John re-blocked the entrances so we’d eyeball the audience a lot more which, having now done it, can get a very interesting reaction. Then the black outfits arrived (t-shirts instead of shirts and dickie bows – looks more modern, sporty and very cool!) and that was that. In what seemed like no time at all it was Tuesday September 4th and we were getting ready for the Tech rehearsal in the New Theatre, Oxford. Oh yes, and I found out I was going to be a dad in the middle of rehearsals too, so all in all, a pretty eventful 3 weeks!