★ ★ ★ ★

Reviewer - Hollie

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review

Caution: This show contains bad language and sexual references.

Hair. Check. Tie. Check. Aftershave. Check. Fresh breath. Check. Clean underpants. Debatable.

Join the bouncers of Mr Cinders nightclub, a typical nightclub of the 1990s, perfect for stag and hen dos on a Saturday night. Funky disco records are played, young ladies are dancing around their handbags and one of the group is always spewing in the toilets!

John Godber wrote this play in 1977 and it was played at the Edinburgh Festival for the first time to an audience of no one. Since then the show has sold out ever since and provides audiences the chance to reminisce on their teenage years and early twenties.

The cast comprises four male actors who play different roles within the show. The show is told from three different perspectives during one day; the bouncers, a group of ladies at the club and a group of men at the club. Through the use of simple props and a change in voice, the actors are able to switch scenes and characters very quickly. I found this really clever when watching the performance and it allowed the actors to show their acting talents and abilities.

Classic 90s tunes ‘Freed from Desire’ ‘Mambo No. 5’ and ‘Barbie Girl’ are interspersed with the lives of the different characters as they prepare to get ready for their night out or prepare for their shift at the club. The bouncers have to deal with loud obnoxious drunks on a regular basis and they stick to their motto ‘Get down, get up, get in, get out.’ They talk about other clientele that they come across and this produces many moments of laughter from the audience.

‘Disco Inferno’ plays in the background whilst the ladies are putting their hands in the air like they just don’t care! The bouncers played by Steve Feeney, Allan Smith, Steve Finlay and Steve Elliott all deserve an equal mention. Their dancing, jokes and one-liners had the audience in hysterics for the whole evening. The show was very relatable and allowed the audience to remember the time that they themselves have been out on the town and in those situations. The bouncers all have complex background stories that the actors are able to give glimpses of during the performance.

Bouncers is honest, hilarious and hypnotising at the same time! The mixture of the scenes inside the club as well as outside the door of the club, allows the audience to relate to the different characters that the actors are portraying. At 2 am the disco shuts and the bouncers head home to their everyday lives.