The Spring Street theatre, home of Hull Truck, is to close. Forgive me if for a moment I get personal. It was in this converted church hall, opposite the morgue, that my teenage friends and I discovered a world of theatre not bounded by the proscenium arch: clown workshops, improvisations, Chekhov in a tiny space with chairs on three sides. Hull Truck is moving to a custom-built centre, with two auditoriums, a bar, cafe and education facilities. It's the end of one dream and the beginning of another.
Artistic director John Godber has chosen to bow out of the venue with the 32-year-old Bouncers. Cited as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century in a National Theatre poll, it's a model of empty-space theatricality. Four actors create - with no props or sets - a vulgar, vibrant, Friday night world of hairdressers, urinals, northern club action and back-street shagging. Bouncers is not dramatic - the characters never develop beyond caricatures, motivelessly swilling around in alcohol and body fluids - but its physical exuberance exhilarates audiences. And that's what keeps theatre truckin'.
