Theatre review: The Full Monty

PREVIEW DISCLAIMER: The press get invited in tomorrow.

"Oh, I've seen that film, pure fantasy! People aren't unemployed, there's no such place as Sheffield, and anyway, you don't even get to see their cocks at the end!" The thoughts of Shirley Bassey (via Matt Lucas) on The Full Monty, the 1997 film comedy that permanently changed the meaning of the title phrase: "The full monty" used to be a generic expression similar to "the whole hog" or "all the way," but now it exclusively means full-frontal nudity. And I just can't imagine why that sort of thing would be of interest here. There's already been a (not very highly-regarded) musical adaptation, which may explain why it took until 2013 for another attempt to stage it. But Daniel Evans went back to original screenwriter Simon Beaufoy for his Sheffield production last year, which then toured the UK; and that's the version that's now made it to the West End.