What a night! If you’re looking for an evening full of laughs, The Full Monty absolutely delivers. If you’re a fan of the film then the play is absolutely worth seeing – and if you haven’t seen the film, it’s working class Magic Mike in Sheffield… with a whole array of body types. <3
As usual, I went into this totally blind. I’ve never seen The Full Monty on film before but heard great things about this iconic, award-winning 90’s British film so went in with some big expectations as to how it would go down. It had some big boots (and tiny thongs) to fill – and it did not disappoint! Following a fun rag-tag bunch of unemployed steel-workers and their friends, they get the bright idea of how to make some cash fast… by stripteasing. How hard could it be?
The film is well known for breaking down taboos around male nudity and sexuality, but it also covers some emotional issues that relate to men too – issues of fatherhood, male suicide, men’s friendships, pressure to provide for a family, erectile dysfunction, loss of self-esteem and libido and covering up queerness, to name but a few! For a play about strippers, it’s actually quite deep and heartwarming!
I was really impressed with the versatility of the set as well – there were so many locations provided from just three large apparatus that the cast would turn around with precision. It was a really creative way to use the space and really opened up the options for locations.
All the cast were incredibly chosen, and really did showcase and celebrate men’s bodies in all their forms. You really can’t help but root for these lads – the entire cast gave really believable performances with incredible comic timing and the jokes were spot on. The only child member of the cast was the main character’s son, Nathan (played by Theo Hills) – he was also really excellent and had everyone in stitches! It was something that would not have worked without incredible chemistry between them all.
It was an absolute laugh-riot from start to finish and all the women in the audience (about 90% of the crowd) were howling, whooping, cackling and screaming along with the iconic final scene. The Full Monty was an amazing experience, a really well rounded performance and one that I won’t forget in a hurry!
