Welcome

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Welcome to the Co-operative Theatre for another night of drama and comedy. We hope you enjoy the performance.

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Wheatsheaf Players Committee

Secretary Mike Hooper

Treasurer Georgia Darlison

Artistic Director Heather Evans

Technical Director Stephen Hocking

Front Of House Manager Joanne Crawley

Publicity Manager Joanne Russell

Member Relations Manager Ruth Carver-Smith

Bar Manager Chris Evans

Director’s Cut A view from director Heather Evans

I love this play! It is funny, poignant, clever, crude, dramatic and probably a hundred other words all rolled into one. It is two years since we last performed this, which isn’t long at all, yet everyone wanted to see it again - in fact almost as soon as they saw it last time! We have, of course, changed and hopefully improved a few things. We have stripped some of the characters back to the very basics, introducing more realism in places. There are also a number of extra lighting and sound cues - Steve, our technical genius, was disappointed he hadn’t included 6 cues last time - he has since upped that to an extra 30 or more! The team involved with Bouncers is one of the closest you could hope to find. The four actors are completely committed to their parts as you can see by the performances. The technical team consists of just Steve - all the cues are so quick there is no time for a stage manager to ‘call’ them! The set was built and painted incredibly quickly - thanks to Nev for a great job getting us back to black so quickly. We have had some great support from the committee and other members of the theatre - everyone is so enthusiastic about this show. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone involved - we couldn’t do it without you! Enjoy the show. I know I will!

Heather

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Cast Profile

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Joe Lawless - Lucky Eric After a successful pantomime - ‘The Magnificent-ish Little Seven’, that he wrote, directed and starred in, Joe reprises his role of Lucky Eric for tonight’s performance. He is thrilled to be back on stage with his fellow Bouncers. A departure to Joe’s usual comedy roles, Lucky Eric gives Joe an opportunity to bring out real emotion in his acting - and the part of Maureen helps him keep in touch with his feminine side - you can borrow his handbag any time!

Jonny Barnett - Judd Jonny is becoming a real Wheatsheaf regular since joining us for panto a few years back. He is particularly known for his slapstick roles and his comedic timing is legendary. Hardman and thug Judd is a wonderful role for Jonny. It gives him the chance to showcase his talent as he effortlessly slips from character to character. And I guarantee one thing - you will never get bored watching his every move on stage.

Cast Profile

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Chris Jarvis - Les Chris hasn’t been at the Wheatsheaf so much lately as his band ‘The Cantina Crowd’ is really busy on the pub and club circuit. So we are really thrilled to have him back on stage to play the role of Les - the mental one - in tonight’s performance. We hope he realises that he can do both and signs on for another play soon. Although, with the amount of different characters he has to play during the show he can do a year’s worth of acting in a week!

Adam Cherrington - Ralph A lot has happened to Adam since he last played Ralph - most important being that he tied the knot with Helen, just a year ago! Although Adam hasn’t played many parts (yet) at the Wheatsheaf, his musical theatre background has helped him get into the roles of both Ladies man Ralph and Sexy Suzy. We hope that reprising the role has given him a taste for theatre and that we will be seeing him grace the stage here again very soon.

Programme

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Bouncers

By John Godber

Directed by Heather Evans

Act 1

The action takes place in various locations in a Northern Town

Interval

Act 2

Later the same evening

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Programme

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Cast

Eric Joe Lawless

Judd Jonny Barnett

Les Chris Jarvis

Ralph Adam Cherrington

Crew

Lighting Design Stephen Hocking

Lighting and Sound Operation Stephen Hocking

Choreography Sue Bench

Set Construction Wheatsheaf Wednesday

Graphic Design Chris Evans

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The Author

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A Profile of John Godber

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John was born the son of a miner in Upton, West Yorkshire. He trained as a teacher of drama at Bretton Hall College. Whilst he was Head of Drama at Minsthorpe High School, the school he attended as a student, he won every major award at the National Student Drama Festival between 1981 and 1983. In 2005, John’s 50th play Wrestling Mad marked his 21st anniversary with Hull Truck as Artistic Director. John’s plays are performed across the world and he has the distinction of being one of the most performed writers in the English language. He has won numerous awards for his plays including a Lawrence Olivier award and seven Los Angeles Critics Circle Awards. His plays include: Bouncers, Un ‘N’ Under, April In Paris, Teechers, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Cramp, Happy Jack, September In The Rain, Salt Of The Earth, Passion Killers, Happy Families, Up ‘N’ Under ll, Gym & Tonic, Dracula, Lucky Sods, Hooray For Hollywood, Weekend Breaks, It Started With A Kiss, Unleashed, Thick As A Brick, Big Trouble In The Little Bedroom, Season In The Sun, on A Night Like This, Our House, Departures, Men Of The World, Reunion, Screaming Blue Murder, Black Ties & Tales, Perfect Pitch Going Dutch, Christmas Crackers and most recently Crown Prince. Within his extensive career in writing and directing in TV and Film, John also devised the BBC2 series Chalkface and his screenplay My Kingdom For A Horse starring Sean Bean was nominated for an alternative BAFTA award. John’s first feature film Up ‘N’ Under was released in January 1998. In 2005, he co-wrote Odd Squad for BBC 2, with his wife Jane, which was shot in Hull using local actors. Odd Squad won two British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards in the Schools’ Drama category and in the BAFTA original writer section. John has an MA from Leeds University, an Hon D.Litt from Hull University, an Hon D.Litt from Lincoln University, a D.Uni for the Open University and was a PHD research student for five years at Leeds University. He is a Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Liverpool Hope University, a visiting Professor of Drama at Hull University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Wheatsheaf News

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A round-up of happenings here

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It never stops at the Wheatsheaf - and this season is no different. We are already underway with rehearsals for ‘Noises Off’, we are planning both the September Show and the youth group Crew show for November, and we have some music evenings planned and booked for October. If you aren’t on the mailing list you could miss out on some great entertainment - so make sure you get signed up today. Talk to a member of staff, or phone and leave your address details to make sure you get all our play dates straight to your door. Wheatsheaf Wednesdays are as important as ever as a great opportunity to come along and join the group, have a laugh and get stuck in. We say it every time, but we are looking for new people to join us. The good thing is we are seeing some new faces around the place and on stage. It all helps us to bring more plays in more genres to you, our audiences. The big news for us is: it is a big birthday for us this year - the Wheatsheaf Players will be 80 in September, and we will have been in this converted Co-operative shop for a staggering 30 years! It is amazing when you consider that quite a few of our regulars still remember the shop as it was back then - and still know their Co-op number! We are incredibly lucky to have the Co-operative Theatre and we hope that we do the place and the Co-op proud with all our comings and goings! Oh, and don’t forget - if we are your favourite little theatre in Coventry (and why wouldn’t we be?!) you can vote for us in the Godiva Awards - just go to www.godivaawards.com or look out for leaflets in and around Coventry.

The Godiva Awards

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Spring is here again and in Coventry that means that the Godiva awards are open for voting.

Coventry and Warwickshire, a star studded region with shining examples of inspirational businesses demonstrating creativity, flair, ingenuity, endeavour, passion and commitment.

The Godiva Awards is the leading business and lifestyle event in the Midlands, created to showcase, highlight and celebrate the regions' finest businesses.

Now in its 7th year the prestigious awards will be held at the stunning Ricoh

Arena where the crème de la crème will descend to compete for an esteemed Godiva Award.

The Wheatsheaf Players are previous winners of the Godiva Award for Best Theatre and have been highly commended on 3 other occasions. This year each vote you cast also enters you into a prize draw for £1000, so please vote for us every day by visiting www.godivaawards.com and look out for features on the awards in the local press.

Coming Soon

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