What does The Full Monty have to offer that would interest more male theatregoers?
If you’ve never seen the original before, you may have heard it’s a story about the formation of a male strip group…
And it is – with a predominantly female audience filling the stalls each night.
But what you don’t know is that the show deals with the exploration of friendship, masculinity and hope between six jobless men who suffer from depression.
Growing up as a working-class lad himself, Danny Hatchard can’t stress enough how everyone can relate to the show in one way or another.
What is The Full Monty really about?
The heartfelt play will take to His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen from Tuesday March 19 until Saturday March 23.
It follows the story of a group of men attempting to regain their dignity and pride while trying to survive through the cost-of-living crisis – a topic we know all too well.
Danny plays Gaz, who worked at the famous steel mills in Sheffield with his best mate, Dave before being made redundant when it closed down – now trying to find his way in the world again.
Sustaining a relationship with his son is his biggest concern while facing trouble from his ex-wife over child support payments he can’t afford.
After falling into this financial hardship, he feels like he can only make money by doing something that stimulates his proactive energy and decides that stealing scrap metal isn’t the way forward any more.
Instead, he creates a dysfunctional strip group made up of men suffering from depression, who form unlikely friendships and follow through with his bonkers idea.
“The relationship between Gaz and his son, Nathan, is what drives the show, and I’ve always looked at it as a love letter to his little boy,” Danny says.
“All he wants to do is raise enough money to continue seeing him. If Gaz didn’t have Nathan, there wouldn’t be a story.”
Men’s mental health
It’s believed that men often struggle to talk about their mental health. This is why Danny thinks a production like The Full Monty is so important, with each character opening up about something they have dealt with behind closed doors.
He continued: “It’s been written very well to approach topics a lot of people can relate to, and to break stereotypes.
“It’s also a show for men. A lot of women come and watch but we would very much like men to come along too because any that do have been pleasantly surprised.”
The play’s focus is not on the act of stripping but on the lives and friendships between the performers.
As well as unemployment and financial difficulties, impotence, low self-esteem, social class and homosexuality are among some of the other sensitive issues portrayed.
But while the characters all have something personal that troubles them, showing support for each other and coming together to overcome challenges has positively represented the true importance of the social support and community they form – not only in the show but in real life too.
Danny said: “The casting director nailed it. The show would not have worked without having a cast that loves and respects each other as much as we do.”
Television vs theatre
Best known for his role as Lee Carter in EastEnders, the London-born actor revealed that there’s a huge difference between acting for television and performing on stage.
After studying for three years at ArtsEd – an independent performing arts school based in Chiswick, in the London Borough of Hounslow – Danny landed his dream role in the 25th anniversary West End production of Beautiful Things.
With experience in both fields, he explained: “In theatre, you have to be able to command a stage and lead a cast in front of an audience, whereas TV soaps and series aren’t live and you can afford to make mistakes.”
While his television roles taught him about camera angles and how to process scripts during a small timeframe, going back to his theatre roots has made him extremely happy.
He added: “I’m already semi-grieving about the show finishing in April as it’s been my first tour and we created something really special. I’m loving my time in this production.”
Danny coming to the north-east
With the show coming to Aberdeen, Danny is excited to explore another Scottish city.
He has already visited Glasgow during The Full Monty tour. Plus, a few weeks back, Danny and his girlfriend, Kerry Scouler, holidayed in Oban and the outer Hebrides to swim with basking sharks.
He said: “I’m very much looking forward to coming to Aberdeen to share this show with everyone in the hope they can relate to it, and I promise it’ll feel like they’ve done an abs workout by the time it’s finished because it’s a bundle of laughs.”
He also hopes to spot the Northern Lights during his visit – hopefully, he has better luck than some!
The Full Monty is at His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen from Tuesday March 19 to Saturday March 23
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