It's the 1990s, and the booming and famous steel production of Sheffield is, thanks to Margaret Thatcher, coming to an end. Large factories are laying off staff or even closing down completely and the 'dole' queues are getting longer and the prospects of any employment - even washing up in the Conservative Club - are fiercely fought over.
That's when an ex-steel worker, Gaz (Gary Lucy), needing to keep up with ever-growing maintenance costs for his son, Nathan (Fraser Kelly), now living with his mother Mandy (Amy Thompson), (divorced and in a relationship with a rich 'snob' Barry (Stephen Donald)) and the threat of court and never being allowed to see his son again, dictates that something has to be done.
The town had recently hosted a very successful evening of entertainment by The Chippendales, and all the females in the town were at the event which was hugely successful and lucrative. Why couldn't he, and some of his out-of-work friends do the same? Of course none of them had the requisite body shapes, ages, dancing abilities and charisma to do this, but somehow it didn't really seem to stop them. And, more importantly, they would do something that even The Chippendales weren't doing, they would go completely naked.. the Full Monty! I don't need to tell you any more of the story here I don't think. For those who have already seen the play, then you know what happens anyway - and for the few that haven't, then let at least some of the storyline be a surprise!
It started life as a hugely successful film, and there has been a Musical made too (although the Musical is made for and by the Americans and loses the Englishness and the essence of the story in my opinion). The play as I have seen it previously has tended to be a bit maudlin and dour, so I was happily surprised with tonight's offering directed with a twinkle in the eye by Rupert Hill. The quintessential Englishness was never once lost, the grime, grit and 'rough and ready' nature of the play kept, and yet the dialogue and the cast sparkled. It was serious when it needed to be, but the lighter moments were lovely and Hill managed to bring the best out of his cast never letting them go over the top and outrageous, keeping a firm foot on reality and this was a joy. The more tender moments, nicely done, elicited 'ahs' from this evening's audience who were following and 'with' the play the whole time.
I personally didn't like the set. A 'one-set-fits-all' approach to the production, which, considering it is a touring show seemed like a good idea, and it also kept omnipresent not just on stage but in our minds the fact that all this was borne out of reduncancy from a failing steel industry. However, the ganduer / opulence of the Conservative Club or Gaz's ex-wife's new home fell flat, and all the locations (of which there were several) did look very much the same.
The cast worked very well with each other, and even their final now iconic choreography wasn't too flashy or clever (in-keeping with the manual labourer types that they were). Excellent. The last time I saw this play, the final routine was West End Musical Theatre standard and felt and looked all wrong! I also applaud the decision on accent / dialect within the cast. To use a Sheffield dialect throughout would have been impossible to understand, and so a generic Yorkshire with the odd hint of Sheffield brogue was absolutely the right way to go.
My only other criticism in a negative vein would be that Gerald's skin had not (at least from where I was sitting and with the lighting design last night) been anywhere near a sun-bed.
A thoroughly enjoyable evening's entertainment, sensibly presented with lots and lots of expensive (if that's the opposite of cheap) laughs!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 18/2/19
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