The 1997 film version of The Full Monty was a masterpiece of cinema, a “feelgood” film that touched on important subjects like unemployment, marriage difficulties, debt, impotence, attempted suicide and homosexuality but that dealt with them all with as much humour as possible – and a little stripping too.
The 2014 stage version stays totally faithful to that original screenplay and, with all of the above performed in the relatively intimate surroundings of a theatre, the humour, the sadness and the sheer hopelessness of life in Sheffield in the late 1980’s is magnified so much that the piece just seems better than ever.
The story of six unemployed steelworkers who, with nothing left in their lives, turn to stripping to make some, much needed, money is retold using an incredibly talented cast who, at the same time as making the show their own, also realise that the audience know what they like, and like what they know. Several of the film’s most memorable scenes are recreated as close as they can be to the original, and the reaction of the packed house to those scenes is heartfelt and enthusiastic.
Gary Lucy takes on the role of Gaz with, at the opening night, the absolutely fantastic Fraser Kelly playing his young son, Nathan. The relationship between these two characters is portrayed beautifully and, in their more dramatic scenes, the silence from the audience is deafening. Although he is an “Essex lad” through and through, Lucy holds on to his Sheffield accent well and, despite this being his first major stage role, he seems very comfortable in the live arena.
Other familiar faces in the show are Andrew Dunn (Dinnerladies), Louis Emerick (Brookside) and Martin Miller (Primeval) who all play characters who, for one reason or another, are not particularly comfortable with the idea of doing “The Full Monty” but who, when the time comes, give it everything they have. Each of them gets to highlight one of the issues that are featured in the piece, with varying degrees of sensitivity and comedy making sure that when the laughs stop, they don’t stop for too long.
Special mention has to go to the final two members of the “Bums of Steel” strip group, Guy, played by Rupert Hill and Bobby Schofield as Lomper. Guy is openly gay and he realises, very quickly, that Lomper is too. Their developing relationship, and particularly the way that Guy nurtures the shy, and frankly terrified, Lomper, is quite mesmerising and is played sensitively and honestly. The guys also deserve full credit because, in the final scene, they make no attempt to “cover their modesty” and give the incredibly excitable ladies in the audience The Full Monty that they have come to see!
Do yourself a big favour this week, leave your blushes at home and head to the Assembly Hall Theatre for bucketloads of drama and comedy and, above all, an absolutely fantastic night out.
***** Five Stars
