The sisters whoop it up on raunchy night out

They came in their droves. Women of all ages, shapes and sizes. Mothers and daughters, sisters, aunts and friends all tightly packed into the theatre. Talking quietly and sipping drinks before the show, they could have been waiting for the start of an operatic evening.

The opening scene with a not unattractive young male beginning to remove his clothes to the tune of Rod Stewart's Do Ya Think I'm Sexy put an end to civility. The mere sight of a naked torso seemed to signal the end of decorum and a heightening of the decibel level in the auditorium to fever pitch.

Like The Full Monty but with better bodies was how one woman described Girls' Night Out, currently playing at the Gaiety Theatre. But in terms of sheer raunch value Girls' Night Out would leave the stars of The Full Monty blushing in their boxer shorts.

The play would seem to deliver a respectability to the strip show. Women who admittedly wouldn't be seen dead at a male strip show are arriving nightly at the Gaiety to see men take off their clothes in a play.

For this is a girls' night out, a realm of women out to scream and shout and even throw underwear on-stage as the shining bodies of four young men are revealed layer by layer until the layers are reduced to the basic.

It was hardly necessary to remind the sisterhood that the more noise they made the more flesh they would see when the removal of a belt was enough to send them into orbit.

The "play" is centred around four women on a hens' night out. When they arrive at a strip club, tastefully called Feast of Flesh, they find they get more than they bargained for when they recognise the entertainers - or at least parts of them. From this point on the fairly basic plot plays second fiddle to sexual innuendo striptease.

During the interval, the overwhelmingly female audience took time out for a much needed drink to lubricate the vocal cords to prepare for an even noisier second half.

"Cor!" was the reaction of one woman, when asked to sum up what she thought of the play. Her friend, equally awe-struck, just said "Wow" as she dashed off to the bar for a stiff drink.

Back in the auditorium as the climax of the show was signalled by an ominous sounding voice, the audience was practically swinging from the rafters. As the clothes got skimpier, the temperatures soared and the audience rowdier, considering the number of times "Get 'em off" was hurled at the stage.

Ann Courtney, in her mid-50s, said it was a birthday night out for herself. Her friend Mary Reilly, from Stoneybatter, said it really was a girls' night out. "I didn't know what I was in for but it wasn't coarse, it was good fun," she said.

Cynthia Parisella, from Blanchardstown, and Anna Foss, from Tallaght, said they came to see the pantomime at the Gaiety with their children and saw the advertisement for Girls' Night Out. "We go out once a week together and we were looking for somewhere different to go," said Cynthia. Asked about their menfolk, the two said the play was definitely off limits.

"Bloody brilliant" was the reaction of Antoinette Carr from Glasnevin. "It's very funny, but don't get me wrong I'm happily married. I don't know what it is when you see men taking off their clothes, but you just have to laugh," she said.

One of the few men in the audience, Robbie Allen from Lucan said he was shocked by how good the play was. "I thought it was going to be sleazy but it was just good fun. I'm tempted to get up there and give it a go myself," he said.

However not everybody was pleased. One woman, who didn't want to be named thought it was all a bit much for the Gaiety. "It's a bit strong in places and I thought it was a bit out of context in the Gaiety as a show."

Another of the few men to venture into the theatre said he thought it was great fun. "It was very enjoyable. I thought it was an examination of all our sexual hideaways," he said. However he admitted that he may have been tricked into coming along. "I didn't realise it was going to be a load of blokes taking their clothes off but it was a good laugh," he said.

Anne Vaughan, a twenty something from Tipperary, said she thought she was going to a real play. "I was sitting four rows from the front and it was quite challenging," she said.

Girls' Night Out runs until February 21st.