Production — Bouncers / Shakers

"Bouncers" by John Codber and "Shakers" by John Codber and Jane Thornton promises to have the audience laughing in the aisles as they experience the hilarity and at times stark reality of life centered around the nightclub.

Set in Northern England in the late 1980s, and backed by music from bands such as Duran Duran and the Human League, the productions evoke a realism that transposes the audience back to that very era. Into the dark depths of any nightclub of the period and witness to the varied lives attracted by the scenes there.

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Press article: Expat Theater with a Passion

By Lee Yong-sung, Staff Reporter
KOREA TIMES
20 June, 2006

Seoul Players members Sebastian Skiff, left, Jonno Sharrock, center, and Craig McGready rehearse a scene for the play “Bouncers” at Living Newspaper Theater, Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times Photo by Kim Hyun-tae

On a tiny basement theater stage, four people are rehearsing a play in English. At first glance, you might think that the theater is located in London or perhaps somewhere in Australia.

In fact, the theater is not in such locations, and the actors are not professionals. They are members of the Seoul Players, an amateur, English-language theater company in Seoul. Its members are foreigners residing in Seoul who are passionate about the theater.

The actors have been preparing for their performances of two comic plays, ``Bouncers’’ and ``Shakers,’’ which will be performed on alternate days at the Living Newspaper Theater near Hongik University, southern Seoul, beginning May 10. It is the Seoul Players’ first regular performance of the year.

"Bouncers’’ is directed by Justine Campbell, a professional Australian theater actor who currently runs her own English language institute in both Korea and Australia. The four brutish bouncers of the title portray over 20 different characters in the play, as all four actors double up their roles in the rousing 90-minute play.

"It is a British comedy but not very complicated like Shakespeare,’’ Anthony Galloway, who plays the double roles of Eric and Maureen in the play, told The Korea Times on Thursday. Galloway runs a real estate company in Hannam-dong, downtown Seoul.

"Guys, girls, going out, partying and dancing … It’s a more adult kind of drama but hilarious,’’ added actor Jonathan Sharrock, who works as an industrial manager of Veolia Water Systems Korea, Seoul.

Roman Zolnierczyk Founder of the Seoul Players

"Shakers’’ is being helmed by Brenda Kemp, an English instructor who also directed plays back home in Canada. The play is often dubbed the female version of ``Bouncers’’ as it features the same number of female shakers at a cocktail bar and is just as physical and funny.
Though not a professional troupe, the Seoul Players’ passion and commitment is not far behind those of professionals. ``We are like what people call an amateur group, but we like to have professional standards, a similar kind of which I abide by when I do my business,’’ said Roman Zolnierczyk, founder of the Seoul Players.

Australian Zolnierczyk, the managing director of Basell Polyolefins Korea, was frustrated with the lack of theater opportunities available to expatriates when he was dispatched to the country in 2001. It led him to place an advertisement for actors in local English-language newspapers to form the groundwork for the Seoul Players. "At the beginning I set it up out of a purely selfish drive, but with so much interest, I was motivated to give it a cooperative effort." Zolnierczyk said.

When the troupe staged its first show, "I Do Not Like Thee, Dr. Fell,’’ at Jungbo Theater in Taehangno, Seoul, Zolnierczyk had to take a range of roles from planning to directing, but with more and more talents joining the team, he has moved a step back from the production side of it to focus on financial and administrative work. ``I’m the one who chooses the repertoires too,’’ added Zolnierczyk, who had done theater for 20 years in Australia.

Staging two plays a year in May and November, the Seoul Players have come up with comedies this time because, according to Zolnierczyk, it did a very serious play (Patti Roberts’s ``Top Girls’’) for its last regular performance. Regardless of the genre though, the theater company has been successful in fulfilling its main task of giving different experiences for both local theatergoers and foreign communities.

The troupe’s hard work has recently borne fruit as Seoul city government and the American Chamber of the Commerce have begun to sponsor the performances along with Coca Cola. The only, yet the biggest, problem with Seoul Players is, as it always has been, that people come and go all the time with short notice, which makes long-term planning almost impossible.

"Seoul Players is open to everyone,’’ Zolnierczyk said. ``And I’ve never closed access to the troupe to Koreans. They don’t necessarily need be very fluent in English to join us.’’

Zolnierczyk himself will probably be leaving the country this year because of his work. ``Before I leave, I’m going to ask the people who have been with the troupe for a while if they want to continue the group. If they say no, I’m fine. I had fun myself in the country.’’

Judging from the earnestness and talent of the four actors witnessed during the rehearsal of ``Bouncers,’’ that isn’t likely to happen.

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