⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The beauty in The Full Monty is you can access it on many different levels. Whether you’re there for a girlie evening to clap and ‘woo’ along to the group getting their kit off (with Jake Quickenden pulling in some rather feral screams) or whether you’re there to watch the desperation play out in a yet still relevant storyline built upon the premise of a Thatcher community battling an economical crisis trying to make ends meet after the lay offs. It is an iceberg show. And it sure it popular!

I went into The Full Monty with relatively low expectations, I had thought we had some big names and with it being a no brainier sell out show it would be relatively mediocre with little depth. I had gone in expecting to enjoy it on a surface level.

How wrong I was.

Instead, I actually found it an interesting piece of theatre that had translated well from screen to stage with plenty of emotion, humour, and heaps of fun.

Gaz (Danny Hatchard) and Dave (Neil Hurst) had the most amazing of chemistry as long-life best mates. I thought Neil Hurst was a standout performance in terms of emotional delivery, especially in his body image issues portrayal. I fully believed his chemistry with Linda (Suzanne Procter) as heartfelt and genuine. They just gave such a likeable presence. I don’t think there was one person in that audience that didn’t have someone in their life who Dave reminded them of.

Perhaps some of you remember Bill Ward, who played Charlie Stubbs, on Coronation Street. I hadn’t realised it at the time, but Bill Ward was a character I loved to hate in Corrie. I loved to hate him on the cobbles, but in The Full Monty, he takes on the role of Gerald, who I quickly grew to love. Completing the group was Nicholas Prasad taking on Lomper. His suicide scene was well done and comical – I also enjoyed his moving heart-to-heart with Guy (Jake Quickenden).

Set design (and equally costume design) by Jasmine Swan was both impressive and cleverly done. I really appreciated how the set came with so many different viewpoints and angles and pieced together in such clever ways to reveal different places. The use of a single bench was also used well. The cast engaged with the space Curve had to offer making the stage transform into a factory, or a police station, or the outside of the working mens club. It’s truly a jigsaw of pieces that slot together to create a whole new scene. The only downfall I feel was sometimes the set changeover became stagnant and clunky whilst changing around pieces. The music that played whilst the stage changed though was brill.

I had gone into The Full Monty thinking it was a musical. Don’t ask me why, it was just instilled in me that it was. And I was so glad it wasn’t. Despite me being an absolute musical lover, I feel the power of The Full Monty is in the storyline and portraying the personal battles with difficult topics covered. The music played was apt to the film and was well executed.

Lighting is strong throughout the show, especially with blackouts and switching on as the script and music started or stopped. But, it’s a showstopper at the finale when the only thing that stands between the audience REALLY seeing The Full Monty and the preservation of modesty is the timing of the lighting… fantastically done!

The show was a tonic to many in the audience, and the roars of applause and the standing ovation it received were greatly deserved. As you can imagine, men were greatly underrepresented in the audience, but I do feel this is a show men would really benefit from watching too. The desperation and the route to becoming one-night-only Full Monty’iers is absolutely deserving of a watch.

I came away from The Full Monty feeling as though I’d had a brilliant time. Whether you’re there for the plot, or whether the plot for you is a few chiselled abs and a cheeky night out, then you’re in for a treat!

At Curve Theatre until 30th March before continuing a U.K. tour.

Age guidance: 12+, this production contains adult themes, depiction of suicide, partial nudity, smoke, haze, spark emitting pyro, and minimal strobe lighting.