Simon Nye's adaptation of his hit 1990s television sitcom Men Behaving Badly for the stage has been criticised as a misconceived comedy set on millennium eve. The play, currently running at the Barn theatre in Cirencester, brings back characters from the TV series but struggles to translate the small-screen success to live theatre.
The production features Matt Howdon as Tony and Tricia Adele-Turner as Deb, who closely impersonate the original TV actors Neil Morrissey and Leslie Ash. However, Ellie Nunn's Dorothy and Ross Carswell's Gary offer distinct interpretations from Caroline Quentin's and Martin Clunes's versions, creating a disjointed feel. A video appearance by Morrissey as a ghost further complicates the tone, veering between re-enactment and original acting.
The plot sees Gary needing to marry his pregnant girlfriend Dorothy before she gives birth to inherit from a moralistic aunt, while Deb has returned from Australia to give Tony 24 hours to persuade her to marry him. Despite an extended musical interval, the 100-minute runtime is insufficient to explore whether the script rebukes or celebrates the characters' boorish behaviour.
Unlike the TV series, where female characters were allowed to enjoy sex, the stage version reduces them to being impregnated, making the project feel like a misconception. The adaptation fails to capture the original's feminist impulses, leaving audiences with a nostalgic but ultimately unsatisfying experience.
