BOUNCERS by John Godber at The Modern Theatre

John Godber’s BOUNCERS comes to The Modern Theatre October 1 Fast-paced tale of urban nightlife explores one drunken Friday night at the Disco

BOSTON – “There’s sex in the air, and the hunt is on” in John Godber’s BOUNCERS, opening October 1 at The Modern Theatre. Four bouncers show what happens on a Friday night in the bass thumping, booze soaked, bedlam of a UK discotheque, where throngs of the young descend in search of love, sex, and something better than their workaday lives.

Tickets are on sale now at https://ci.ovationtix.com/34432/production/1280397 Doors, beer and wine bar, and thumping music, at 7 p.m., Bouncers take the stage at 8 p.m., Thursdays, Friday as and Saturdays October 1 through October 24.

BOUNCERS has a storied history in the United Kingdom. Thousands of productions since its beginning in 1978. Among the most produced plays in England, listed as one of The National Theatre’s Plays of the Century, 1990’s productions won seven Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards and five Jefferson Awards in Chicago, and a mainstay in British theatre education curriculum.

“I first saw BOUNCERS in Chicago in 1991, laughed more than I have at any show, and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since,” says Director Bill Doncaster. “This is four actors, playing dozens of characters, and feels more like a ride than a play. It twists and turns through the debauchery and hilarity of nightlife and reveals the sadness of youth desperate for a night out to break the monotony of lives with few prospects.”

“If you’ve ever gone out with the intention of getting to bed early, but instead crawled home at 3 a.m. having spent all your money, BOUNCERS feels all too familiar,” Doncaster says. “I wouldn’t be the first to say it’s a great show for people who think they don’t like ‘theater’. It can turn from hilariously crass to deadly serious on a dime, and it’s hard to know what comes next, and how it gets there.”

Presented by Visual City LLC and The Modern Theatre at Suffolk University, this production features many from the creative team that staged a critically acclaimed run at the historic Cantab Lounge with Stickball Productions in 2013, a run cut short closing weekend by the Boston Marathon manhunt. Doncaster, actors Joe Siriani (Lucky Eric) and Patrick Vincent Curran (Les), lighting designer Anthony Phelps, fight choreographer Meron Langsner all return, joined by actors Bradley Belanger (Judd) and Michael Ferrari (Ralph), choreographer Joanne “Misses JoJo” Caidor of the Afmohip Dance Company, sound designer Jacques Matellus, assistant sound designer Deleyah Creese, and co-producers Doncaster and Sam Seidel.

BOUNCERS opens October 1 and runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights through October 24 at The Modern Theatre at Suffolk University, 525 Washington Street, Boston. Tickets are available at https://ci.ovationtix.com/34432/production/1280397

From the 2013 Stickball Production:

“BOUNCERS is rank. BOUNCERS is raw…but it’s funny as hell, too.” Beverly Creasey, Boston Arts Review

“…my young daughter will be able to point to this play in the future for the reason why she will never, ever be able to stay out past 10 until she’s 35.” – Craig Idelbrook, Net Theatre Geek

“…low laughs in the men’s room, perfectly timed punch lines on the dance floor, starkly sad ruminations, and the funniest ‘film clip’ of Swedish p*rn ever to grace the stage.” Kilian Melloy, Edge Boston