Girls Night Oot!

Gardyne Theatre, Dundee, February 23; Perth Theatre, March 1-2

It’s the naughty musical romp that’s been playing to full houses in some of Scotland’s foremost theatres.

Audiences have lapped up Girls Night Oot!’s bawdy humour since its world premiere in 2016 and it’s on its way back to Courier Country.

Written and directed by Glasgowbased Insideout Theatre’s Paul HarperSwan, the laugh-out-loud production invites theatre-goers to join four female friends on a roller-coaster Scottish hen night that starts off in the home of cheeky mare Donna, played by Fife actress Donna Hazelton.

“It’s fun-filled and a great show to be involved in,” she says. “The girls are all like a wee family – we’re really close and just have the best laughs every time. There’s always something new we find funny or that’s brought out in the performance.”

Girls Night Oot! reprises the lives of characters from previous musical I Will Survive, and Donna says there’s even more to come. “It’s been so successful so far I don’t think Paul’s ready to stop now,” she laughs.

“We’ve had grannies who’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, as well as lateteenagers. Everyone we hear from on Twitter always seems to have a character or a situation they identify with and there’s a bit of nostalgia for the older ladies who probably did exactly the same in their day.”

Leven-based Donna – whose cohorts are musical director Alison Rona Cleland, Lauren Ellis-Steele and Natalie Tulloch – reckons the piece also crosses the gender divide.

“I could count on one hand the number of shows where there’s been no men in the audience,” she says. “To be fair, the majority of them are gay, but we do have straight guys who come with their wives and girlfriends. I think they like it in a different way.

“It’s an insight for guys into what girls get up to and how they interact when they’re on their nights out. Girls all go to the toilet together and that’s in the show as well.

Taking in classic numbers such as Hot Stuff, I’m Every Woman and Toxic plus more recent hits, Alison’s soundtrack hones her leading ladies’ harmonies. “The songs are all kind of different,” explains Donna.

“There’s a couple we’ve slightly changed the words in to add Scottish humour. Bang Bang gets a big cheer and we do No Scrubs and Alison raps in the middle about her pals and her boyfriend. That’s another standout.”

The production is touring Scotland after filling Edinburgh Playhouse and Glasgow’s King’s Theatre.

“This’ll be our third time at the Gardyne and I’m looking forward to going back,” said Donna.

The cast of Girl’s Night Oot! are all set to take their audiences on a musical romp.