It’s autumn and Black Rat Productions are back and ready to grace the stages of Wales with their annual theatre production. Over the years the company have made audiences laugh out loud with Boeing Boeing (set in the swinging sixties), made them cry on Neville’s Island and made them chant Oggy Oggy Oggy with the boys in Up ‘n’ Under. This year, back by popular demand, the troupe bring you Bouncers – not to be confused with the makes-you-ashamed-to-be-Welsh television programme of the same name. Last performed in 2009, Bouncers is the tale of Les, Judd, Ralph and Lucky Eric (played this time by Morgan Hopkins), the men who man the doors at some night club, somewhere. They’re gearing up for a night of ‘watching’ boys and girls, fuelled with alcopops and cheap beer, pulling, puking, falling over and falling out. The show sees stars Gareth John Bale, Sam Davies, Ross Ford, and Morgan Hopkins portray over twenty different characters in John Godber’s modern classic.
The Black Rat team are a talented bunch who have ingenious ways of making the characters and setting come alive with humour and pathos, wit and wonder (such as playing both sides of a rugby match using simple two-tone t-shirts in Up ‘n’ Under). The Rats will tackle anything from Shakespeare to an Alfred Hitchcock thriller to an Alan Akburn farce but it’s their contemporary comedy productions that really showcase their talent for humour and physical comedy. But whether playing characters stranded on an island or trying to hide one girlfriend from another, the production is always high-energy.
Black Rat will be performing throughout Wales, starting at Blackwood Miners Institute on Tues 4 Oct. If you fancy a night on the town without suffering the morning after then book yourself a theatre seat, sit back, enjoy the Bouncer’s experience and have yourself a crazy-good night to remember.
words LYNDA NASH
Bouncers, tour throughout Wales, Tues 4 Oct – Mon 7 Nov. Tickets: prices vary per venue. Info: www.blackratproductions.co.uk