Review: BOYS IN THE BUFF by Chris Burgess at Golden Goose Theatre until 10 January 2026

“The Full Monty with cultural knobs on.” ★★★★

Spanning the Christmas season and welcoming in the New Year, Boys in the Buff brings glamour, glitter and glowing thongs to Camberwell’s Golden Goose with a month-long run.Since this musical revue by Lambco Productions first appeared at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival, it’s been recast and updated with new faces and additionally relevant songs to capture the zeitgeist.

We meet statuesque and formidable Maxie (Tish Weinman who performs internationally as the charismatic drag artist, Letitia Delish) as she presides over her ‘boys’, a troupe of young men who prepare for a new show that will require them to strip off. As these characters share feelings and stories about their bodies, which span bullying for looking different to being arrested for flashing,  it prompts a broader conversation about male self image in today’s world,

The pressures young men experience in an age of social media perfectionism, deep fakes,  body dysmorphia and body shaming translates into ninety minutes (with an interval) of entertaining and engaging song and dance. From punishing rituals at the gym, body modification and medical intervention, what was once traditionally the self-flagellating regime of most women is now the normalised experience of many men; what was once part of gay culture has proliferated into the mainstream.

The loose narrative structure, sometimes a little clunky and less than seamless, is trumped by the music and dance; Writer, Chris Burgess,  Director/Choreographer, Robbie O’Reilly and Musical Director, Aaron Clingham cook up an irresistible offer including,  My Foreskin and Me (Yes, foreskin reconstruction is a thing) The Fat Jab Rag; Size Doesn’t Matter and My Favourite Thong Song. It's the Full Monty with cultural knobs on and walks a tricky tightrope between show biz razzmatazz and social messaging. 

The boys: Liam Bradbury as Richard; Rowan Armitt-Brewster as Dan; Adam Norton as Phil and Max Rizzo as Luca, all talented singers and dancers, are well synchronized and harmonious.  While they may titillate some of the audience, they do not physically challenge them. All are good looking young men with near perfect, hairless bodies, all are white; slim, young and able bodied. 

To gaze upon physically different bodies while hearing songs like What We Have in Common and Love Me For Who I Am would bring a different, more charged resonance to the show.  This doesn’t take away from what’s been achieved but conceptually there’s space for Boys in the Buff to be adapted or rolled out into more diverse communities.  That said, this burlesque musical revue offers up a fabulously entertaining evening and will spread a seasonal message of good will, male self acceptance and body positivity into 2026 and beyond.

BOYS IN THE BUFF 

at   Golden Goose Theatre, 

146 Camberwell New Road, London, SE5 ORR

10 December 2025 - 10 January 2026

BOX OFFICE https://www.goldengoosetheatre.co.uk/whatson/boys-in-the-buff