The Arts Centre, Devizes Road
17, 18, 19 February 2000, 7.30pm
£5 (£3 concessions).
Box Office: 01793 614837

(Bouncers and Shakers were also OTTC's entries in the National One Act Play Festival 2000)

This outrageous and hilarious double bill parodies the contemporary disco and cocktail bar lifestyle that we all know so well.

Four brutish bouncers portray over 20 different characters during a typical night out on the town, whilst another quartet of long-suffering waitresses offer a wickedly funny glimpse of the reality that lurks behind the plastic palms and Pina Coladas of the Cocktail Bar.

OTTC rises to the challenge laid down by giggly girls, lads on the make and Hooray Henrys all to the pulsating beat of the disco dance floor and the oh-so trendy cocktail bar.

Old Town Theatre Company takes on challenge of two plays parodying the world of disco

Tearing away club veneer

Nightlife in bars and discos - a well known world to most people - is the setting for two contemporary plays by John Godber.

The OTTC (Old Town Theatre Company) is strutting its stuff this week at Swindon Arts Centre from Thursday to Friday at 7.30pm with Bouncers and Shakers.

Bouncers is set around a group of four bouncers at a nightclub. The play strips away the bow tie and dinner jacket to see the real face behind, from the point of view of both staff and punters.

Julian Smith, who has been with the company since 1996, stars as Lucky Eric.

"Bouncers is a comedy with dramatic elements and certain pathos, like a caricature of a clown with a sad face behind the mask," Julian said.

Nancy A Hollenbaugh is directing OTTC for the first time in both plays. She studied at Hull University, where John Godber lives, and saw the debut of Shaker.

"I feel that the audience will be able to recognise certain aspects of themselves in the plays, there are some lines and situations that, in both plays, are recognisable in everyday life," she said.

OTTC is sponsored by Burmah Castrol and was set up in 1992.

One of the new kids on the block with OTTC is Sarah Gillett from Cirencester. She is Nicky in Shakers, a cocktail waitress who is also an aspiring actress.

"The hardest part for me has been trying to act like a man which I have to do at one point, especially the body language."

Tickets are £5 from the centre, Devizes Road, Old Town, Swindon, or ring 614837.

Flicky Harrison - The Evening Advertiser