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Getting yer kit off for the laughs
The Full Monty
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
**** I RECALL when the film first came out, it
was a huge success, in parts funny, poignant, sad and raucous, but
always faithful to the time and place. But the alchemy of film and stage can be quite
different, and its transfer thereto comes with no guarantee of success. The ingredients remain; casualties littered the
industrial landscape. Entire industries and communities collapsed with
little support under the Thatcherite revolution, and one of those
casualties, a Sheffield steelworks provides the setting for this story. The songs from Hot Chocolate, Tom Jones and Donna
Summer are not classics, but provide a soundtrack to an era and
familiarity. Although this is a political tale, it is told at a personal
level, which is why it has endured, and asks what manhood is about. No job, no money, no self-esteem. Original screenplay writer Simon Beaufoy has
written this stage production ensuring both authenticity and continuity.
The horror of the American musical version is no more. Yet fused on to these worthy foundations is the
story of male strippers, a device which has seen the show become a
popular girls night/ hen night out, and it is undoubtedly this which has
forged its current popularity. Inspired by the Chippendales, the motley crew of
unemployed steelworkers, Andrew Dunn, Louis Emerick, Rupert Hill, Martin
Miller, Bobby Schofield and Gary Lucy, aim to have a go themselves. That
they are emphatically not all body perfect gives the show an Everyman
appeal, although East Ender Gary Lucy is product placed to give the
girls something to enjoy. Occasionally the Sheffield accents waver, but
tear jerking scenes, most notably involving Gary Lucy as Gaz, and his
efforts to maintain his relationship with his son Nathan, are rock
solid. The double act of Horse - who is not hung like
one (Louis Emerick) and affable Guy (Rupert Hill) whose lunch box is
packed, is a delight. The director, Roger Haines, threads his way
skilfully between the dark despair, and black comedy, from suicide to
the belly laughs of male insecurity. This is a play with a story, with the dialogue,
rather than the music, pushing the narrative, and laughs aplenty. Just as a crime drama is driven by the reveal of
the perpetrator, so The Full Monty is driven by . . . The Full Monty,
the throaty cheers for which are a fitting climax to an outstanding
show. To 29-11-14 Gary Longden
24-11-14
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