REVIEW: The Full Monty – at the Festival Theatre, Malvern, from Monday, November 9 to Saturday, November 14, 2015.

THE voice of Welsh crooner Tom Jones belts out the raunchy You Can Keep Your Hat On in the glorious final scene but, if I did wear one, I would have to take mine off in admiration and tribute to the cast of this hugely enjoyable show.

There have been very few occasions in the past decade or so when a Malvern audience has reacted with such fervour and excitement and it’s quite incredible to realise that this play, based on a hit film delving into unemployment, despair and suicide attempts, as well as impotence and homosexuality, does - as writer Simon Beaufoy queries - amazingly provide the feelgood factor.

One of the production team I chatted with during the interval expressed surprise at the Malvern audience’s reaction. They were expecting a more reserved response throughout. But how wrong they were as the cheers rang out, along with the laughter, a good number of wolf-whistles, the occasional aahhs for moments of tenderness - and the raucous applause at the end was totally deserved.

It’s now 18 years since the film - about a group of redundant Sheffield steel workers who end up stripping in a local social club to earn money - seared its way into our psyche. A major smash-hit back in 1997, it still resonates even though times, places, faces and politics have changed.

Follow-on stage shows are inevitably faced with huge challenges such as keeping faith, to quite a degree, with the original success, and coping with the limitations and boundaries of a stage compared with the freedom of film.

This touring production tackles them all head on and succeeds by the bucket load of molten metal. After all, Sheffield is a city defined by iron and the iron-will to rise from the shadows is evident in the play’s main characters.

It’s not a musical but a play with music, dancing and, essentially for the female contingent of course, a fair bit of flesh on parade. Male members, if you will pardon the expression, were somewhat in the minority in the audience!

It touches on serious social issues - folk with no jobs, no money and no hope, but still retaining the sense of humour Sheffield is renowned for and most of the time it was funny bordering on hilarious - especially the Job Centre scene where the lads are queuing and sub-consciously 'grind' through their routine to Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff. Exceptional and as good, if not better than, the film.

Well they’re not quite six lads…. nor do they have the oiled six-packs and muscles of the professional ranks, more oily overalls than oiled and rippling muscles.

All six gel well on stage - ex-Eastenders’ Gary Lucy provides a compelling performance as he tries to sell the stripping idea to his mates and struggle to support his son, Nathan, as he endured a constant battle with his estranged wife. Nathan is being played by four different young actors on the tour and last night it was played by Fraser Kelly, who belied his tender years - he’s 12 - with a mature and humorous performance.

The rest are all pretty well-known small screen actors and they are excellent too - especially Andrew Dunn (Dinnerladies) who can’t let on to his wife he has lost his job and Martin Miller (Scott & Bailey) as Dave, Gaz’ best friend, who is low on self-esteem.

Equally impressive are Louis Emerick (Brookside) playing Horse, who is troubled by arthritis; Rupert Hill (Coronation Street) is Guy, a somewhat self-assured gay, while Bobby Schofield (Grange Hill) is the awkward still-in-the-closet Lomper.

The men may be the scene stealers but both Emily Aston and Rachel Finnigan star too as the put-upon wives, Jean and Mandy.

A disused factory is the basis of the set which swiftly and ingeniously switches into the Jobs Centre, a rehearsal room, Conservative club, police station and eventually the nightclub for the lads’ one and only performance.

Unlike the regular male strippers such as the Chippendales, who have appeared locally - they promise to go one better by going ‘The Full Monty’.

For the moment I will have to keep my hat on. It would be unfair to reveal all!

If you can get a ticket - grab it! But you will need to act fast. Don’t even go near the hat stand. At the last check just a few remained for the matinees and you might be lucky if there are any late returns.

Try your hardest, it’s a heart-warming show, and as an advert for a well known drink used to say years ago - ‘by golly it does you good’.