"Shakers Restirred" by John Godber and Jane Thornton
Nottingham Lace Market Theatre

"Shakers" was first presented by Hull Truck Theatre Company at the Spring Street Theatre, Hull, on 29 January 1984; the revised version performed here, "Shakers Restirred", was first presented by the Hull Truck Theatre Company in 1991.

Written by Jon Godber and Jane Thornton as an all female version of "Bouncers" and relies on the four actors' talents for quick change characterization as they take on both female and male roles. What I love about John Godber, and jane Thornton, is the well observed creation and description of the characters, even the ones that we can't see, from the story telling and description you build an image of Andy King in your mind.

In "Shakers Re-Stirred" we see the girls of Shakers cocktail bar, the newest, shiniest cocktail bar in town where, in spite of the glitz and glamour of the décor, the patrons, and the people who serve them, are none too happy at all.

I love "Bouncers", and this is just as funny, which goes to show what brilliant writers Jon Godber and Jane Thornton are, taking a similar theme and making it equally as chucklesome.

Clare Choubey (Mel), Rosie Randall (Adele), Lucie Conroy (Nikki) and Rosie Poesl (Carol) are the Fab Four who take on the forms of the male and female clientele of the ultra trendy cocktail bar. I love the way they morph into the male characters and accentuated all the worst habits that men of certain ages and social standing exhibit on a night out with the lads.

All four have moments in the play to shine, delivering monologues as we learn more about the characters, their hopes, dreams and past. And you have just got to love the way that the no nonsense Mel addresses some of the customers who are trying to get in to the bar when closed. Mel also has the most poignant of monologues as she reveals something that she has not revealed to anyone before.

These four actors have great chemistry and that shows with the characters they play and the relationships between the four bar workers. And it's non stop all the way through, making this a high energy hit.

Co-Directed by two of my favourite movers and shakers, Linda Croston and Alison Hope, it's girl power all the way. They keep the pace going as well as the sharp script; the only gaps are the ones that Godber and Thornton have deliberately written into this acutely observed piece of theatre. The music is apt and kept to stabs to celebrate the script. For those of us who have seen this play previously will also have fun listening out for the script updates.

Lighting Design is by Simon Carter who creates that Friday Night/Saturday Night wine bar feeling, and then sucking in all the bright, disco bar images to a spotlight on each of the four waitresses when it's their turn to perform their separate monologues, ensuring that all your focus is on that one person and nothing else.

Sound Design by Matthew Allcock who did an extremely slick job. Not just with the song stabs, but also with the sound effects which were timed to perfection. The toilet flushes, the party popper and all of the other effects were executed with natural fluidity to the on stage actions.

The set design is by Andrew Miller and really placed you in a typical 1990's wine bar setting. Anyone, like myself, who can remember this period of time and the typical wine bar atmosphere will recognise this design straight away. It takes you right back there.

The wardrobe is a simple wine bar uniform, but the actors' description of their other characters' apparel paint images in your mind, especially in the changing rooms scene. I too, in my time, have been there with the jeans; more than that I shall not say, just go see the play!

These four are masters of the art of character acting because they will make you believe in every one of their characters, male and female alike. They are also master artists as they will paint pictures in your mind.

I've mentioned just how quick this script is and that means changing from one character and scene to another on the flick of a light switch. With that in mind, the set changes are minimal and involve the cast relocating tables and chairs. It also means that props like plates, glasses etc are not used, and normally I am one to mention "invisible props" as a negative. At this pace there's no way that real glasses etc are going to be used due to the speed of the play.

Love the running joke about the Seafood Pasta, as well as the little section involving Carlos the chef and his culinary skills. It almost put me off pizza; but not quite. I just wouldn't order it from Shakers Wine Bar!

If you've got the January Blues, this is just the play to see, as you will leave the theatre with aching chuckle muscles and earworms in your head, including the slick segue into a Human League song that I am sure I don't need to name. So get a ticket and strap yourself in with a pina colada because here come the girls.......

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Review: Shakers. Lace Market Theatre.

Lace Market Theatre directors Linda Croston and Alison Hope have created a stylish and well-executed observation based social drama on the main stage this week from John Godber and Jane Thornton’s revitalised (restirrred) script. Linda Croston’s professional looking Shakers bar set design works a treat. The silver and black chairs loaned from the nearby Cross Keys pub are a perfect fit.

Although billed as a comedy – and there are some laughs to be had, particularly in the second act where it scores highest in the way of chuckles, in this reviewer’s point of view, it is in the slick dramatic choreography throughout and the four actors abilities to convince not only as serving girls Carol (Rosie Poesl), Adele (Rosie Randall), Nicky (Lucie Conroy) and Mel (Clare Choubey) but as various other characters throughout. Their focus on invisible characters is also convincingly well done.

Randall is the first to speak directly to the audience in this production and her physical confidence and vocal clarity are reassuring in this iteration and a benchmark for the quality of the production. All of the four actors know exactly what they are doing and when they should be doing it and essentially make a very exacting acting job look easy. The show’s comedy comes mainly from the cast’s commendable spot on comic timing and their body and facial reactions to unfolding situations, not necessarily from John Godber and Jane Thornton’s wit which can seem a bit dated at times.

Conroy, Poesl, Randall and Choubey are particularly brilliant at depicting the allegedly good-looking but socially shallow groups of young men that drunkenly bluster into the Shakers bar groomed to the teeth in the fashions and smells of the 1990s in search of more booze and a possible pissed up grope of a waitress’ bottom. The young men laughing (braying) at nothing definitely amuses me as I live next to a pub and hear that and loud voices all the time. They also excel at ‘being’ a group of supermarket checkout girls preparing for and going out on the lash to celebrate a work mate’s 21st Birthday. These are just two groups and individuals the Shakers girls encounter in their cocktail bar lives and virtually all of the re-enactments are done without any props which helps considerably with the flow of the piece. Matt Allcock creates a faultless soundscape and Simon Carter’s creative lighting impresses.

Not every story in Shakers Restirred is geared up and delivered to amuse and, typical of playwrights Godber and Thornton, they craft their stage text to include darker personal revelations of the cocktail bar staff’s lives as well as their ambitions and frustrations. Each character is given a spot lit monologue and all are finely acted and performed honestly and naturalistically by the cast. In what is more than an extended Happy Hour of stage traffic these heartfelt monologues, the upbeat acting energies and the classy direction are what I shall carry away with me into the night after another enjoyable visit to Nottingham’s Lace Market Theatre.

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