#johngodber

[jenicorn88]

Out reviewing, I said to mum last week I’d like to see this because I enjoyed Bouncers so much, and then this week I’m told we’re reviewing 😂 🤘🤘#hullnewtheatre #johngodber #theatre #play #hull #upnunder (at Hull New Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2FEF22BfKt/?igshid=1sah7kr097jix

[caitlin1996]

Thank you so much cast and crew of salt of the earth! It's been a good one! #saltoftheearth #johngodber #wigan #wlt (at Wigan Little Theatre)

[gooseyganders]

Local Gander// Theatre

Teechers

Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmund's

I opted for a bit of culture at the weekend in the form of the theatre… More light-hearted really, as it was John Godber’s Teechers performed by the legendary Blackeyed Theatre. I’ve seen his similarly hilarious Bouncers and Shakers in various forms, but Teechers was still one to cross off the list, so I jumped at the chance when it came to Bury’s Theatre Royal.

The play, and its subsidiaries, follow an unusual programme whereby three actors play all the characters within it – confusing, you might think. However, the changes flowed with sparkling clarity as the brute-like Mr Basford seamlessly transformed into the petrifying Mrs Parry, performed by Brad Clapson with unparalleled comic genius. The three actors’ chemistry with each other was fantastic, and helped to create such hilarious scenes as Mr Nixon’s close encounter with Oggy and Gail’s attempt at clinching the deal with her favourite teacher.

Blackeyed Theatre handled the play with due sensitivity, however, as John Godber’s script requires. The synopsis mentions Teechers’ exploration of the “haves” and “have nots” through the constant comparisons with nearby St George’s, and the poignancy of the message was not forgotten by the audience. This is what I love about Godber’s work, and the work of those who do it well, which Blackeyed Theatre certainly did: it packs a punch in terms of comedy, but it doesn’t forget to deliver that all important take-home lesson through believable characters and intelligent quips laced through an original storyline.

Theatre Royal, Westgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 1QR. Tel: [phone]

www.theatreroyal.org

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Like experiences? You might like Emma Daniels' Papercutting Workshops at Baker & Barista, Ipswich

[doncasterlittletheatre]

BOUNCERS

Monday 1st – Saturday 6th July 7.30pm

Written By John Godber.

[refriedeggs]

Is it grim up north?

A very distinctive north of England is depicted through the media. The northern counties of England are colonised by the imagination of London, however, there is still a distinct identity created by the north and a specific stereotype imposed on the north of England. The regional theatres of the north, such as Hull Truck, are re-determining their identity and their region’s. Theatre is still colonised by the mainstream and London, subsequently the elite are the leaders distributing the power (funding) to those who ‘tick’ their criteria, meaning, theatre has become more centralised, with the aspiration to become legitimate: to be critically acclaimed in the mainstream. The north of England is represented fairly prominently through popular theatre. In the south of the country the theatre focus is more generic and in keeping with the metropolitan hub, London. Although Amanda Whittington is originally from Nottingham and currently resides there, Hull has been her city where some of her plays have premiered. Hull, and other northern regions have attempted to redefine their voice outside of what other regions, namely the south, stereotypically scapegoat them as. John Godber, through Hull Truck Theatre Company, has captured the imagination of Hull, which was once England worst city (Jordison & Kieran, 2003). The north of England has been been a particularly targeted by Whittington’s popular theatre, possibly because women of the north have been characterised as ‘strong’ women (Russell, 2004: 39). By strong Russell means that the women of the north are good at coping, and they are represented as the lynch pin which holds the community or family together - but the majority of playwrights he talks of are male (with the exception of, Shelagh Delaney and Andrea Dunbar (and Joan Littlewood, in passing)). Just like regional theatre is colonised by the metropolitan; popular theatre is colonised by the mainstream and finally, men are the subjugators of women’s theatre.