Last Nights Theatre Dinner

It was a first for the Aperitivo Theatre Group when their performance of ‘Bouncers’ was staged at the Hotel Garbe.

Aperitivo is an experimental group often seen at São Brás Museum but breaking into the commercial world of theatre-dinners was a new experience.

Jane Page was the play’s director, immaculately staging many complex scenes; she also adapted the script to include local references to Albufeira and Monte Gordo. Giving further authenticity, the setting used was the Algarve discothèque, Kadok, where the tough-guy bouncers are in charge of security.

The cast of four took on various other roles, mostly as dancers at the disco. There were no costume changes and the only props were four handbags used when the bouncers turned into four young women enjoying a good night out! Considerable acting skills were called upon to pull this off, not to mention a scene where two of them became stars in a Swedish blue movie! Adding to the atmosphere technical director, Marlis Weissenborn, created flickering strobe lighting, music and special effects.

Productions by Aperitivo often involve much larger casts and it’s not uncommon for several languages to be introduced into the scripts. In ‘Bouncers’ the occasional smattering of Dutch was used to good effect with meaning and humour conveyed through convincing facial expressions and body language.

Undoubtedly the enthusiasm of the performers was highly infectious ensuring that – like the women at the disco – the mostly English speaking audiences enjoyed a good night out!
Carolyn Kain