The Full Monty

Image Source: ATG

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Format: Play
Genre: Comedy Drama
Date: November 7 2016
Location: Liverpool Empire Theatre

A production which brings the original 1997 movie to the theatre stage, the story of The Full Monty will be familiar to anybody who has seen the film. To those who haven't seen the flick, though, the prospect of watching this show could potentially be a little awkward. After all, it's about a group of wannabe male strippers; assuming that you don't fit into the target audience, how awkward will it be sitting through a show that focuses on half a dozen men preparing to bare all?

Well, you need not worry, because the show is about more than stripping. A lot more, in fact, to the point where the clothes-shedding scenes are at a minimum. The story is actually an examination of British society during Thatcher's problematic reign as Prime Minister, which led to job cuts, declining industries (such as the steel industry, which had previously provided jobs for the central characters here) and general malaise amongst the fortunes and morale of the working-class British people. The knock-on effect included the likes of proud men being unwilling to admit to their partners that they were now jobless (Gerald, played by Brian Dunn), fathers whose hearts were in the right place as opposed to their brains being involved in dodgy deals to try and keep their father-son relationships alive (Gaz, the main character who is played by Gary Lucy) and young men who had yet to achieve any real success, and whose gloomy thoughts convinced them that they never would (Lomper, played by Anthony Lewis).

Visit our Theatre sub-page for full article by clicking here