Calendar Girls

 

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It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

 

Report by Angus Sheppard-Hughes SW Regional Representative District 16

Firstly, before I mention anything about the show, I would love to thank and show my deepest appreciation for the FOH team and the President and Chair of the society. My guest and I received the warmest greeting upon entering, with the members of FOH wearing beautiful sunflower printed dungarees, shirts, blouses amongst other items around the front of house area with the same colourful theme into the theatre. 

Once in the auditorium, we were met with a vibrant set with two separate areas on either side of the stage to each other. One was Harpers Florist, and the other was the back garden of Annie and John with both arranged wonderfully with a range of flowers transporting me, very believably, into Yorkshire. The set and lighting design with the calendar months of the year was a particular favourite of mine yet I was unsure what to expect from this set concept as I was concerned, I may have been distracted by the lights around the side of the proscenium arch being bright and taking focus away from the performance on stage, but I wasn’t. In fact, it was a great reminder of the months going by during the performance and the fact that this all took place in a lot shorter of a time frame than I expected it to.

Once into the performance there were some other pieces of set that stood out. The curtains rose at the rear of the stage to create a village hall, the home of the Knapely WI. When I was younger, I did my ballet lessons in a hall that looked just like this, the same colour magnolia on the walls, high ceilings and single paned glass windows. It was a proper blast from the past. All set, lighting and costume designs were suitably fitting for the era and location for a Yorkshire village in the late 1990’s.

Lastly I feel the journey of the performance was lovely, the transition from the months of September to May was smooth and done tastefully. The Direction (from Helen Desoisa and Scott Sharp) was perfectly balanced to account for the soft moments of sadness and the joyous moments where the cast come together to accomplish something so wonderful. The Choreography (by Lousie Graham) was simple enough to not distract from the complicated storylines and harmonies laid out by the MD (Rachel Howgego). There were definite hints of Take That in the music and it was a talent to bring it out on stage. A big round of applause for the whole creative team.

 

Chris was the down-to-earth, sarcastic and funny best friend of Annie, known for her *bad* ideas, so bad that she came up with the idea that raised over half a million pounds to fund lymphoma and leukaemia research in the UK. This huge idea started with raising enough money for a comfortable sofa to go in the hospital used by Annie and John. Chris’ voice in the opening song gave a strong start to the rest of her performance, and her acting skill gave a realistic approach to her relationship with her husband Rod. Rod and Chris’ relationship on stage was a perfect rendition of a long-standing marriage, where there are still things to learn about each other, not knowing who is going to pull out the next bright idea and from where. I can’t wait for that to happen in my marriage! Very well done to all.

I don’t have enough words to talk about Annie’s performance. “WOW”, “I can’t stop crying” and “phenomenal” were some of the words I scribbled down when I could peel my eyes away from the stage. You handled the tricky wordy songs very well, and I know you had some troubles at the beginning of the show with a dry throat, and considering you were minimally off stage, you did well to get back up and keep going. The gentle and superb relationship with John was a complete juxtaposition to Chris and Rod’s. Everybody in the community loves Annie and John, to the extent that the whole opening number (and musical) was a tribute to this. I hope that the actors didn’t take offense to the silence after some of the poignant numbers, this wasn’t because we didn’t enjoy it, it was because we were breathless from the well-executed sorrowful performances and direction.

Oh Cora I will never see Christmas again in the same light. It reminds me of when I was at church making fake hymns up under my breath just to pass the time. I couldn’t imagine a pastors daughter having to deal with the endless hymns, prayers and sermons without making up stupid rhymes and songs and I didn’t have to. It was all laid out on stage for me to bask in its infinite glory. If you don’t actually have a northern accent you should think about relocating as it was unquestionable. Never did I once think I was in the south west when you were on stage. 

Tommo was equally funny, a great bond between you and the other young leads Danny  and Jenny.. All three young leads were like a perfect combination of their parents. The sarcasticness of Chris and Rod in Danny, the desperation to get away from the life they know similarly to the way Cora does with her father, by Tommo, and the fact that Jenny is both the complete opposite and the exact same as her stuck up, rude, officious, and unpleasant mum Marie.

Jessie was my secondary school English teacher. Well, not literally, but in spirit. Your comedic timing with dry wit grounds the group of women and keeps their heads on straight. The way that you exposed yourself both literally and figuratively to Lawrence made me chuckle so hard I had to take my inhaler. “What age expects” was a song for all the people who think that just because the numbers are going up, doesn’t mean your time is up. Yes, you too can pose semi-naked for a calendar! 

Celia was the other way round to Jessie. Your character knew that they were getting older and did something about it. So what if you’ve had “a little work done”. In the first act, Celia came across ditzy, laid back and unbothered by much, but when one of her friends loses their significant other, the true, kind and intelligent friend comes out. I hope you don’t take offense as this really isn’t meant to, but you were giving me young Carol Vorderman in one of her exercise videos, something that made all the men go mad in the 90’s. 

Every friendship group has a Ruth and as much as we love them, we question why we are friends with them in the first place. Plus a little dutch courage (or Russian) never goes amiss, I think that I would need a drink before getting my clothes off in front of a camera. As much as she may be a little silly at times, the audience related to the sensible, level headed approach to this idea. Plus she had one of my favourite lines and one of my favourite scenes. “I’m laughing out of fear here!” gave me stitches from laughing, and the hula hoop stole the show for me. 

The male supporting characters Colin and Denis were the rocks to the leads, always having someone to rely on and they played the roles of “the guys” against “the girls gave a juxtaposition that was needed in order to move the story along. 

Finally for the cast, I would like to mention the other supporting characters,  including the Miss Wilson (Tea and Coffee) (played by Katrina Fletcher and Jasmine Eade). The fact you said one word each, yet made me so happy when you were on stage is a testament to both your comedic skills and the direction given. A huge well done to all the supporting characters, you know what they say, it takes a village.

These comments solely reflect the view of the representative and can only relate to the performance seen.

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