MARTIN Lettin and Luke Redhead team up as father and cheeky son, Jerry and Nathan, in Shipton Theatre Company's British amateur premiere of The Full Monty at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, next week.

This show is the stage musical offshoot of the hit Yorkshire film, set not in Sheffield but the American steel town of Buffalo.

Martin is excited about the chance for a York audience to compare film and stage musical. "It's the UK amateur premiere and I absolutely wanted to be part of that. It's what people want to see: to judge what it's like after the film," he says.

Different music, different accent, but there is the same naked finale for the unemployed men who take up stripping. "It's daunting! But it's a lot harder in rehearsal where you're on the floor level, there's no gap between stage and audience, and it's not under stage lighting. If I was going to be on my own, I'd be bricking it but there are six of us, we're all part of a team, so we'll be sharing the experience, and I'm happy with that... well, happyish! But then I knew I'd be stripping at the end, I wanted the part and you just have to get on with it."

No such concerns for Huntington School pupil Luke Redhead in his Shipton debut. The son keep his clothes on!

"Yeah, I'm really happy about that! I'm just proud to be doing an adult play, not one for children," he says. "Nathan is a very adult character for his age; he's a nice guy who wants to help his dad but when his dad does something weird, he finds it very frustrating."

Luke is chuffed to have landed the role but his mother was unnerved when his drama teacher, Sandra Horne, said she wanted to speak to her. "My first reaction was to think, Oh no, what's Luke done wrong now," says mother Trudy.

Instead, Sandra wanted him to audition for a role that he "would be perfect for", although it did have strong language.

Shipton Theatre Company present The Full Monty, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 26 to 30, 7.30pm. Tickets: £8; ring 0870 770 5741 or 01904 623568.

Updated: 09:08 Friday, July 22, 2005