In a story that's somewhere between Mrs Henderson Presents and The Full Monty, Boys In The Buff tells the story of Diane Diamante (Faith Brown), the owner of a failing seaside theatre and her plans to rescue its fortunes by staging an all-male nude review. The action spans the several days of rehearsals for the show, right up to the big reveal-all finale.
The four boys that Diamante hires for the job are a diverse bunch. The good-looking narcissistic one; the nerdy shy one; a stocky football fan, and the, er, well let's just say he has a nice personality Along the way there are musical numbers that let us explore male insecurities like Size Doesn't Matter, My Foreskin and Me, and Taboo Tattoos. It's an interesting mixture of light camp froth, titillation and real human anxiety, and at times it can get quite deep behind the jazz hands and high kicks.
Faith Brown is occasionally unsure in her role as Diamante, but that doesn't seem to matter one jot. She also slips in between Brown the actress and Brown the comedienne impressionist at various points in the show - much to the delight of the audience.
And at the end of this burlesque, yes, you do get to see everything. Rather a lot of it. Star jumps and all.
