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Okotoks theatre company going all the way in The Full Monty

The Dewdney Players production of The Full Monty to open Oct. 21 at the Rotary Performing Arts Centre
SCENE-Dewdney Full Monty BWC 5207 web
'Monty Men' Logan Coutts (right) and Patrick Brown lose it all during a dress rehearsal on Sept. 25 for 'The Full Monty' produced by the Dewdney Players.

Okotoks' theatre mainstays are dancing into new territory.

The Dewdney Players are going all the way with their stage production of The Full Monty, opening Oct. 21 at the Rotary Performing Arts Centre (RPAC).

Much like the 1997 British dramedy flick of the same name, the story follows a motley crew of down-on-their-luck men in Sheffield, U.K. who decide to enter the lucrative business of stripping.  

Hilarity ensues.

Front and centre is Gaz, played by Dewdney mainstay Mark Huolt, who like many was laid off from a steel mill and is risking losing custody of his son.

“He’s the one who kind of came up with this cockamimi idea and has been convincing everybody along the way to join him,” Huolt said.

“The stage adaptation is actually very true to the film, so people who enjoyed the film will see a lot of their favourite parts come to life.”

Much more than a show about guys stripping, the characters’ struggles and flaws are laid bare by them going bare.

“There’s a lot of moments where each character struggles in some way or another,” Huolt said. “Each character has problems, men’s problems that they kind of need to deal with, and by coming together and finding an outlet, each of them find a little measure of peace along the way.

“Some of the interesting character stories, we see them have these problems and these issues, and sometimes they get over them and sometimes they don’t.”

Many of the issues are ones men face, and the story doesn’t shy away from the fallout that sometimes can occur.

“So it sort of shows the journey that all men take, and problems that all men will have at one point or another," he said.

“And it shows the ways in which men do – and quite often don’t - deal with mental health and how they support or don’t support each other.

“We see kind of the good, the bad, and the ugly all throughout this whole thing.”

Chemistry is key for a cast about to drop their wardrobe, Huolt added, and the ‘Monty Men’ have bonded well over the numerous rehearsals, as well as a photo shoot for a calendar produced by the Dewdney Players to raise funds for men's mental health.

The calendars are $20 and can be found at X’s and Oh’s Love Boutique or Hub Town Brewing, or by contacting The Dewdney Players on Facebook.

“Of course, all the guys playing the strippers, we all know each other fairly well, so there’s been a lot of shenanigans and hijinks along the way,” Huolt said. “It’s been good, mostly because any time you start taking your clothes off, it’s always good to be around people you’re comfortable with.

"Having all of us familiar with each other and having done stuff before has been helpful for that.”

Also joining that mix is Patrick Brown, who plays Gaz’s former boss Gerald, an upstanding gentleman who lost his job along with the others and hasn’t mustered the courage to tell his wife.

“It’s my first bigger role on stage of any kind, and playing Gerald is a bit different for me because he’s a bit of a dick,” said Brown, who mostly worked backstage on past productions. “He’s not the nicest guy, but he progressively becomes more and more friendly with the rest of the guys.”

Director Sherene Seders couldn’t be more pleased with her cast.

“It’s been coming together fantastically,” Seders said. “We did our casting way back in June, we got together and started rehearsals right away in July, and we made the decision we were going to do the charity calendar.

“After that it meshed the cast, especially the key six (Monty Men), who I really needed to see those relationships with. It totally came together then.”

The Players have been playing the long game in bringing the show to the RPAC stage.

“Ever since we did Calendar Girls, Fully Monty has been in the works,” Seders said.

Originally slated for 2020, the pandemic put the show on hold.

“We wanted to give the show real justice, we wanted it to have the hard work, we wanted to be able to get together and do that hard work,” Seders said. “So we had to wait, and it’s all the better for waiting.”

While there is not a hard age restriction on the play, Seders pointed out it does deal with mature subjects, including a suicide attempt.

The Full Monty opens next month at the Rotary Performing Arts Centre with 7:30 p.m. show times on Oct. 21-22, 27-29, Nov. 3-5, and 2 p.m. matinees on Oct. 29 and Nov. 5.

For more information visit DewdneyPlayers.com

SCENE-Dewdney Full Monty BWC 5124 web
The 'Monty Men' lose it all during a dress rehearsal on Sept. 25 for 'The Full Monty', produced by the Dewdney Players. Brent Calver/OkotoksTODAY

 




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