The Full Monty from Worthing Musical Comedy Society

SussexWorld

Matt Collins is delighted to be directing The Full Monty for Worthing Musical Comedy Society, all part of a new chapter for him in his theatre career, complete with exciting new challenges.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely this

00:06afternoon to speak to Matt Collins. Now Matt, you are fulfilling something of an ambition here,

00:11aren't you? You've wanted to direct The Full Monty for a long time, and you've got that chance in

00:16Worthing, Worthing Musical Comedy Society. You're doing it in Worthing from May the 7th to the 10th.

00:23Why? You've been banging on their door with this musical,

00:26from Monty the Musical for a while. Why does it speak to you so much?

00:31Yeah, I just think it has such fabulous messages, it really does. I think there's so many

00:38touching topics that I think resonate with a lot of audiences. They talk about men's mental health,

00:46about men's body image and lack of confidence, and that it's just something that a society accepts,

00:56it also addresses the feminist issue of body image as well, and how that's also not contributed very

01:04well, especially in the time by the way that men spoke about women generally. I think it touches on

01:13such lovely topics. You've got Jerry, who is a single dad. He's trying to keep seeing his

01:22son and keep custody, or joint custody, sorry, with his ex-wife of his son, but he just needs to grow up.

01:32He needs to live his life, and he has all of these thoughts and ideas of everything that he wants to do,

01:40but he's held back by his own lack of maturity. But also, at the time, there was a lot of work

01:47available to these people, but they didn't want it because it was deemed women's work.

01:51Right.

01:52Which, you know, nowadays is farcical, absolutely farcical.

01:57Yeah, so how much has changed? We know because we looked it up just now, but the film came out 28 years

02:02ago, didn't it? Is it a very different society that's depicting to where we are now, or these are all

02:08universal themes, aren't they, to some extent?

02:10Yeah, I don't think it's a million miles off. I think they're very much still themes that resonate,

02:15you know, particularly with body image and men's mental health. That's something that's, you know,

02:22really, really on the map, and wasn't for a very long time, wrongly so. So I think it's something

02:30that people are a lot more open about nowadays, which is fabulous. But at the time, it was,

02:36you know, stiff upper lip. Get on with it, son. Get out there and get on with it.

02:41It's so interesting. This is something you really, really wanted to do.

02:44Does that kind of heighten the pressure on you to make it a success that it was something

02:49that was so special to you?

02:52Um, yeah, no one said no. I think, um, no one, no one ever puts more pressure on me than

02:59I do. Um, so, you know, and everyone in the, in the company, the cast has been incredible.

03:06They've been so supportive. Um, we really are, you know, it's like the old cliche. We really

03:11are like a family. Um, you know, you, it's such a safe space as well. Rehearsals have been amazing.

03:18We've been able to discuss quite, um, sort of what can be tricky conversations for people and,

03:24and, and, um, people feel safe to do that. And that for me is one of the biggest drivers for,

03:29for doing this is, um, you know, a lot of people haven't had the opportunity to address these,

03:35these issues, um, or even, you know, not even necessarily with themselves, but just to understand

03:40them.

03:41It's actually for you to be directing. Directing is something you've really picked up on since,

03:46well, change of hearts during the pandemic.

03:48Yeah, definitely, definitely.

03:49Didn't quite have the same buzz, but somehow directing was so much more appealing.

03:55I think it was, um, it was predominantly a new challenge. Like you said, after, after lockdown,

04:00I, I went back to performing and I just, I just didn't have the same thrill anymore.

04:05And, um, I still, to this day, can't work out why, um, I, you know, something maybe,

04:13maybe priorities change. I don't know, but, um, I just didn't have the same thrill too much.

04:18If it gives you a new interesting challenge, that's good, isn't it?

04:22Exactly. Um, so yeah, I, you know, I, I sort of, um, dip my toe in the water as it were first and,

04:28and was assistant director, um, because I wanted to see if it was for me. I wanted to see if I was

04:34a good fit for the company and, and, and, you know, and vice versa. It's a working relationship

04:39with myself and the committee and the board and everything like that. So it's got to, you know,

04:43it's got to be the right fit. And luckily I've, I, I loved it and they seem to, uh, appreciate what

04:50I can bring to the table.

04:51And a letter you suggest the play, which is brilliant, isn't it?

04:54Yeah. Yeah.

04:55Fantastic. Well, lovely to speak to you, Matt. It's, um, the full Monty, the musical, Wednesday

05:02to Saturday, May the 7th to the 10th in Worthing. Good luck with the whole thing. Thank you.

05:07Very much. Thank you.

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Transcript

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