it "combines comedy with acrid truth in the style Willy Russell has made unmistakably his own... and hits on brilliantly the herd instinct driving both sexes onward and bedward". The Guardian called it a "bleakly funny and perceptive study of working class misogyny, Puritanism and waste." The Financial Times however described it as "firmly in the centre of the playwright's best achievements: lively, coarse, well-organised, truthful and very funny." The Stage wrote that the 2008 production had "...outstanding writing, superlative direction and fabulous performances all round, Stags and Hens is a play that remains a great deal of fun and is guaranteed to have audiences chuckling and empathising with everyone on stage." References 1978 plays Plays by Willy Russell Liverpool in fiction Plays set in the 1970s Plays set in Liverpool