The Auckland Theatre Company should be fairly confident it has hit on a winner with a production that might be described as Coronation Street meets The Girls of the Playboy Mansion.
The story is closely based on a real community fundraising project that was dreamed up by a branch of the Yorkshire Women's Institute. The resulting phenomenon raised millions for cancer research as well as spawning an enormously successful feature film and stage show.
All of which demonstrates that the best marketing ideas come from enthusiastic amateurs rather than cynical advertising executives.
Tim Firth's script follows a time-honoured recipe for a classic British comedy: Start with a solid base of eccentric silliness, throw in the old nudge-and-a-wink double entendre, stir it up by taking the mickey out of the upper classes, add Chaucerian slap and tickle bawdiness and season with deliberate naughtiness.
On a deeper level, the humour enables us to vicariously overcome our fear of social embarrassment and it is inspiring to see ordinary folk summoning up the courage to risk humiliation by baring it all.
