Calendar Girls

Calendar Girls by Tim Firth has been a film and stage musical as well as a play. This true story is about a group of middle aged women, from a WI group, who produce a nude calendar to raise money in support of one of their number who has recently been widowed.   It is both hilarious and touching and shows the close bond and determination of a group of friends facing a difficult time.  

The set was excellent and had been well crafted   There was with great attention to detail.   The set was a good representation of a Village Hall committee room and the countryside scene of ‘John’s Hill’ by John Pibworth deserves a special mention.   The props were many and varied and included flowers, slide projector, sunflowers, tea towels, a keyboard, piles of buns and a large piece of knitting.  Having a piano on stage was a great addition and added to the authenticity of the singing, especially for the opening song “Jerusalem’.

A great deal of trouble had gone into ensuring each character was dressed and made up appropriately. The costumes ranged from everyday clothes, Victorian ‘fancy dress’ at Christmas, a couple of ‘Saucy Santa’ type dresses and black dresses.

The production began with the women in lively mood, singing ‘Jerusalem’ and laughing about the banality of some of their talks (including Broccoli and The History of Tea Towels).   And there then followed some ‘Tai chi’ with each pose focusing on a hobby or a quirk relating to one of the group.   This established the camaraderie of the group and their mutual dislike of the snobbish Chairwoman (Marie).   This was reinforced when they rallied to support stoic Annie after she’s widowed.   The entire cast were convincing in their roles from blousy, forthright Chris, to gentler Annie.   Ruth was reluctant to take part and ex school teacher Jessie got a good laugh when she insisted on “no front bottoms”.    Celia regaled about her misspent youth and Cora was the anxious single mum.     The actual calendar shoot was managed seamlessly and cleverly so as to protect the modesty of the performers.  The ‘WI’ women were well supported by Paul Robinson, who gave a touching performance as John, with his failing health and love for Annie, and contrasted well with Mark Winter as Rod, Chris’s husband.  The women laugh, cry and feel better about themselves and sometimes fall out as friendships are challenged.   But ultimately it ends well in hilltop harmony as the sunflowers appear.    Congratulations to Douglas Storer for directing the excellent cast and assembling a comprehensive creative team who enabled those on stage to shine.  

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