The Full Monty UK Tour | De Montfort Hall

The Full Monty UK Tour is based on the 1997 smash hit that has been adapted for the stage by Oscar-winning writer Simon Beaufoy, who wrote the original screenplay back in the 90s and is now bringing this cheeky but fun performance to it's audiences. The productions centres around a group of employed men from Sheffield. Becoming desperate for cash to support themselves, they decide on starting a male-strip show, with their unique selling point being they will do "The Full Monty".

They managed to really capture the Sheffield accent, as well as state of the working class in the late 1980's. The production emphasises on the decline of employment in a response to the impact of Margaret Thatcher's hold over the Sheffield's fine steel industry that was so important to Sheffield's lifestyle. Right-winged policies of Thatcher meant that there was a lot of temporary employments, lay-offs and as well as rapid closures of businesses, they weren't able to cope with her idea of lowering wages for higher output. Redundancies in Sheffield were taking place at a rate of around 1000 a month and dropped lower with the privatisation of the British Steel Corporation. 

'Life goes on, but The Full Monty captures that moment when a way of life that had seemed eternal was suddenly gone for good' as described in the programme by John Good. 

Photo Credit: Matt Crockett

This latest production of this hit production have a cast whose collection of both Theatre and TV credentials are bursting at the wings. Lead by Gary Lucy as the lead role of Gaz with support from a great cast in the form of Andrew Dunn, Louis Emerick, Chris Fountain, Anthony Lewis and Kai Owen. They really captured the struggle as well as the companionship one another needed to get through the tough times, as well as capturing how far a bit of inspiration can do to bring people together too. 

I was definitely excited as a Hollyoaks fan to see their Chris Fountain make a a stage debut that will be remembered for all the right reasons, trust me it's worth watching just for that.  

The only thing which let me down a little with this production was it lack of sound which made it difficult to hear the Sheffield dialect from some of the actors on stage. In a venue that is so vast a lot of voice was lost making it difficult at times to understand what was going on and with roars of laughter from the audience, this made it just as difficult. 

The play didn't have a musical element, but I feel like this worked in their favour within the context of the play and made up for it when some songs were played from the original film, including Hot Chocolate's You Sexy Thing. The comedic elements were really embedded well within the script making it for a really enjoyable performance that is simply perfect for a girls night out. 

This performance definitely gave me a lot more action on a typical Monday night and would definitely recommend you go along with your gal pals for a fun and flirty night out at the theatre not to be missed.

thanks for reading,

*I was gifted this ticket in exchange for a review, but all words and opinions are my own.