Lucky geezer

BEING, as he puts it, "a big Northern kind of geezer", Matthew Rixon expected Bouncers would be one of those plays that he'd get offered after leaving drama college. John Godber's play, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, features four actors playing not just nightclub doormen but customers and staff, too, at a Northern club called Mr Cinders.

A natural role for Rixon, or so he thought, but it didn't work like that. "I've never been in it, but I read it a couple of times because I used to do a Lucky Eric speech for auditions. So I know the play but have never seen a production," he says.

Until now. He's been cast - along with Davood Ghadami, Andy Hockley and Nick Figgis - in a revival of Godber's play at York Theatre Royal.

It marks a return to the venue for Rixon, son of actor and TV presenter Matthew Kelly. They first appeared there together in Alan Bennett's play Kafka's Dick. Later Rixon returned as the villainous cardinal in The Three Musketeers, followed by Macduff in a Japanese-inspired Macbeth.

Bouncers began life in 1977 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with a 21-year-old Godber as one of the two actors. The first audience was no bigger, consisting of a critic from The Scotsman, who left after five minutes, and a Scottish drunk, who stumbled on stage for an impromptu performance of his own.

Things picked up and the play has been seen in many productions and earned a place among the National Theatre's top 100 plays of the 21st century.

York director Damian Cruden has added some touches of his own to this story of raucous disco nights. Rixon's preparation included meeting a couple of bouncers. "Actually, they were lovely," he says.

"Then last night we went out with a couple of doormen and doorwomen. It takes a particular kind of temperament and person - and I'm certainly not that kind of person."

THE actor was on a tight schedule. It was his birthday but, apart from a trip to the pub after rehearsals, there were no celebrations as he had a 10am run-through of the play the following morning. Then he was driving home to Worthing for what remained of the weekend to spend time with his wife and four young children.

His father will be coming to see him in Bouncers early in the run. Later this year they'll team up again on stage in Oh What A Lovely War and there's talk of them doing Endgame together too.

"Dad had been cast in Kafka's Dick at York and I wrote to Damian saying I'd like to audition for the part of Kafka," recalls Rixon. "Physically, I'm not right for Kafka but he did audition me and liked the idea of having a genuine father and son playing the roles.

"Me and dad are very similar physically and vocally but different in other ways, so it was very interesting to watch each other. And we're a very close family and are always ringing each other about work and giving each other confidence when we're working. It was a real family event and one of my favourite jobs.

"Dad met Alan Bennett afterwards at Leeds Airport and he sidled up and said, 'I just wanted to say thank you to you and your son for doing my play'. It's been the start of a great friendship."

Rixon says his parents were brilliant when he decided to be an actor. They neither encouraged or discouraged him. "Obviously there were influences because we were brought up in the theatre and followed dad around - my mum, me and my sister - when he was working in rep. So I'm very at home in the theatre," he says.

"I was just a normal lad at school, did O-levels, got into Manchester Youth Theatre at 16 and that's when I went, 'I like doing this'. My mum and dad just supported every decision I've made, I'm very lucky."

In case you're wondering why he's not a Kelly, that's because his dad had to change his name - from David Kelly - as there was already an actor of that name. Matthew took Rixon from his nana's maiden name.

Most of his work has been in the theatre and he's just finished six months in London's West End in the musical The Producers playing a director who makes his entrance in a sequinned gown ("about as camp as you can get").

"You don't choose your career path, it chooses you," says Rixon. "If I get offered something, I say yes really. It's been predominantly theatre and that's bred more theatre.

"I'd love to do television and film but I've been an actor for 15 years and I think TV people look at your CV and they want people they know and can trust, so theatre it is."

His size - we're back to that "big Northern kind of geezer" again - has tended to dictate the roles he's offered. "It's a blessing and a curse at the same time in that I'm a big bloke so things like Macduff and Bouncers do come up," he says.

"I seem to be not too ugly enough to be pure character and not good-looking enough to be leading lad. I seem to have had a foot in every camp. It's great because it means people can't pigeonhole me."

* Bouncers is at York Theatre Royal from tonight until August 4. Tickets 01904-623568