Adapted from the stories and poems of Charles Bukowski
Adapted and Directed by Ben Harrison
Performed by Charlene Boyd, Keith Fleming and David Paul Jones
6th Feb – 12th Mar 2012
“Some people never get crazy.
What truly awful lives they must lead.”
Charles Bukowski
What starts as a gateway into a liberated, loose, affectionate and flirtatious view of the world can so easily become a prison, a destruction of the body, the mind and the memory. And yet, without alcohol, what great works of art might we have missed, what creative revelations, what relationships, what joyous and fumbled acts of love instigated at the bar and hastily consummated after a hurried taxi ride home.
A search for meaning and pleasure in the arms and in the bodies of a series of women drives Henry to confront the darkest corners of himself and to challenge the whole ethic of the working life. Maybe more humanity, more analysis of the human psyche could be found from the edge of a barstool than from the most wide-ranging travels or the deepest research in a library.
Barflies looks at the profound liberation of alcohol, its opening up of corners of sexuality and mental activity, as well as its most undesirable effects.
A huge sell-out and award winning success during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2009, in 2012 Scottish site-specialists Grid Iron took the show on the road, to bars all over Scotland and ending the tour with their first ever appearance in Wales, to the famous Vulcan bar in Cardiff.
Drawn from the short-stories and poems of cult American writer Charles Bukowski, Barflies is a rumbustious encounter with his alter-ego Henry Chinaski and a bevvy of the women who shaped his life and work. A visceral look at the pains and glories of drunkenness and all the humour, horror, hope and devastation it can bring.
Production photography by Douglas Jones
View our Barflies 2009 production and the Barflies 2009 trailer here.
Cast
Henry: Keith Fleming
Cass, Vicki, Margy, Vivienne, Sarah: Charlene Boyd
Silent Dave: David Paul Jones
Production Team
Director/Adaptor:
Ben Harrison
Producer:
Judith Doherty
Composer & Sound Designer:
David Paul Jones
Set & Costume Designer:
Becky Minto
Lighting Designer:
Kate Bonney
Production Manager:
Fiona Fraser
Technical Manager:
Kate Bonney
Stage Manager:
Mickey Graham
Sound Engineer:
Ross Ramsay
Finance Manager:
Deborah Crewe
Print Design:
Emma Quinn
View Our Programme
To read more information about the show, including the Director’s Note and team biographies, have a look through our production programme.
Download our programme pdf here
Supporters
The production was kindly supported by the following…
Past Productions
The productions are listed in chronological order with the most recent first.