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Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the smash-hit movie, Simon Beaufoy’s The Full Monty has arrived on stage at The Alexandra Theatre. 

The Full Monty tells the story of a group of men from Sheffield who are down on their luck and dealing with their own personal daily struggles. Gaz (Danny Hatchard) and Dave (Neil Hurst), unemployed former  steel workers, accompanied by Gaz’s young son Nathan (Rowan Poulton), are caught stealing beams from the former factory by depressed and lonely security guard Lomper (Nicholas Prasad). Gerald (Bill Ward), their former boss, is hiding the fact he has been out of work for six months from his wife, Linda. After seeing the success of a local performance of the Chippendales and in desperate need of money for his child support arrears, Gaz hatches a plan to make some money by convincing the men to form their own troupe of male strippers. After advertising for more members, they meet Horse (Ben Onwukwe) and Guy (Jake Quickenden).

Together, the group develop their routine to go ‘The Full Monty,’ with the intention of outdoing the Chippendales by finishing their performance fully nude.

What follows is two hours of poignant storytelling and complete hilarity from a truly exceptional cast.

The plot and the characters maintain the essence of the movie, but the play is very much its own and it is delivered beautifully. Focusing on a multitude of themes including unemployment and the psychological impact it has, loneliness and suicide, male body confidence and struggling with sexuality, there is genuine empathy from the audience for each character and their experiences, perhaps because their troubles are not dissimilar from what many of us are currently going through with the economic crisis. 

However, what really makes The Full Monty so enjoyable is the comedy, of which there is plenty. It’s rare that I have seen a play where the timing is absolutely perfect, and each actor (including the ensemble – who play multiple roles) delivers one liners with such precision that the audience is almost crying with laughter. I laughed so much that my sides hurt. 

Combined with an epic soundtrack of 90s bangers, a simple but clever set involving just three large pieces that are moved around, and costumes that could have been taken from my very own wardrobe 25 years ago (I’m almost certain I once owned an identical shell suit to the one that Adam Porter Smith was wearing), The Full Monty is now one of my favourite shows that I would happily watch again. 

The question is, do the actors actually go The Full Monty?

You’ll have to watch and find out!

The Full Monty will be on stage until Saturday 3rd February. Get your tickets here