THE mere phrase 'The Full Monty' readily conjures up images of screaming, frenzied women and the wailings of Donna Summer and Tom Jones, but this stage production of the BAFTA-winning film offers ample reminders that Simon Beaufoy's first screenplay was so much more than that.

Despite being stripped of the advantages and stark realities of the film's Sheffield locations, director Daniel Evans conveys the many underlying themes those who saw the 1997 big-screen version will remember so well.

Despair, identity loss, wounded male pride, broken dreams, poverty - all of them are brutally conveyed, by stellar performances from superbly-talented actors and designer Robert Jones' hugely-impressive set.

The ghostly confines of a disused steel mill, with its redundant machinery, are transformed into a Conservative Club, job centre and police station, and back again with the minimum of fuss and pleasing execution.

Meanwhile, the cast do a magnificent job of conveying the fears and frustratations of their characters.

Chief among these of course are Kenny Doughty's rogue Gaz, desperately trying - and often failing - not to let son Nathan down, while Roger Morlidge's Dave has many of the pithiest lines, but also tender moments as he and frustrated wife Jean deal with his feelings of inadequacy.

Simon Rouse's Gerald struggles with his deception which means his wife carries on living his pre-redundancy lifestyle, but arguably stealing the show is Craig Gazey's Lomper, shy, confused but at the same time hilarious - no mean feat given that his first main scene features an attempt to hang himself.

As the story moves from the initial hare-brained idea to the eventual realisation of a unique stripping troupe, the laughs come frequently, all interspersed with the sad reality of their situation.

The set-pieces so loved in the film - the dole queue scene, Gerald's ill-fated job interview - all remain pleasingly in place.

It's coarse, gritty, heart-breaking and poignant - and very, very funny.

And the answer to the question I'm know you've been dying to ask?

Yes, they do. In an ingenious and brilliantly-realised way.

The show runs until February 15.