Edinburgh Fringe 2025
The Naked Neds
Hip Productions
Genre: Theatre
Venue: theSpaceUK at Surgeon's Hall
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
“Paul’s about to be a dad, but doubt clouds his excitement. A night at the pub should be a distraction, yet Cammy’s suicide still lingers, unspoken but heavy. Struggling to move forward, the lads throw themselves into fundraising in his memory, desperate to make a difference. But when Paul finds a lump, fear grips him; fatherhood is no longer his only concern. Inspired by real events, The Naked Neds follows a group of Glasgow lads facing loss, life and NHS waiting lists. With nothing left to lose, they decide to bare all; the full monty!” Once again charity calls for a group of men to strip off, but this show has a lot of heart as well as laughs.
Review
The Full Monty film not only established itself into everyday vocabulary, it also inspired a play, musical and many spin offs. This Glasgow based comedy embraces the trope of unlikely men to strip off, but it avoids duplicating the film, as it is derived from good causes. Paul, Harry, Jamie and Tony mourn the loss of their best friend Cammy, who died from suicide, and the group decide to hold a charity football match to raise awareness and funds. When that fails, they get the idea to strip. Add a testicular cancer scare, and it may feel that the show is overloaded with good intentions. But the slogan “Check your mates, check your balls”, is a strong message, and one that should be taken on board.
Although uneven, the play has plenty of heart and good belly laughs. The characters are clearly defined and the cast work well together. Lucian Bulingham, Aiden Curley and John Stuart all banter well, and they capture macho attitudes well, together with actor/writer Ingram Noble. Hannah Mary Taylor is Bev the barmaid, who punctures their strutting effectively with sarcasm and facts. The play could have done with an extra pair of eyes to look at it, perhaps Noble was a little too close to it. Some action would have benefited from being upstage more, and the cast need to look up from the floor, some characters deliver their lines down instead of out to the audience. It also has a few too many gay slurs for my liking, especially as one of the characters is gay.
One of the strengths of the play is when characters step out of the action and address their concerns in monologue. This is particularly effective in highlighting the trauma of suicide, honesty shines through here, and Ingram is impressive at discussing body issues and body shaming. This, essentially, was the Mark Addy character in the original film, and it’s still relevant here. The performance I attended felt a little rushed, allowing the play to breathe will bring out these tender reflections with strength.
Although the actual strip is not the point of the play, that too felt a little rushed and a tad coy. But this is, overall, an entertaining hour, with some sharp comedy and a good heart and it is excellent to see young men discussing these issues, even if they are shielded behind laddish behaviour. But that is the way of the world we live in, and let’s hope the messages are taken on board.
