Calendar Girls

Driving into the delightful village of Blackmore really set the atmosphere for Blackmore Players performance of Calendar Girls in their lovely village hall. The set, placed in Yorkshire, reflected a clever use of onstage space. On one side of the stage was the WI hall, complete with noticeboard and projector, and the other side incorporated the outside scene complete with a hill to accommodate the relevant parts of the script. 2 extensions to the stage were dedicated to the sofa (and the Russian friend scene) and the shed. All parts of this set were used by the cast effectively. This was a clever design that made maximum use of the small stage, so congratulations to the set builders, designers and crew.

With any village hall there were a few sound issues, but the cast overcame this and proceeded to treat a packed house with a thoughtful, funny and moving show.

Annie, played by Lisa Rawlings, had a lovely stillness to her performance and possessed a calm and delightful voice. Her rendition of the song, Kilimanjaro, was beautifully and movingly sung as was ‘Sunflowers’ and I really enjoyed her understated but confident performance. The connection between John, played by Dean Zetter, and Annie was really lovely and set the tone for the rest of the show.  Marcia Alderson, as Chris, had a great energy and twinkle to her portrayal of the lively best friend and a great voice as well. She had just the right amount of mischief in her performance as well as the self-doubt over the effect on her son!

The group had assembled a very strong cast for this show. I loved Barbara Harrold’s interpretation of Jessie. She looked as if she was enjoying every minute and delivered every response with great timing and humour. Cora and Celia, played by Lucie Burrows and Jaqueline Long respectively, were very comfortable in their roles and Sandra Trott as Ruth came into her own during the’ My Russian Friend and I’ song. All maintained good Yorkshire accents throughout and completed the group of WI friends so beautifully. The connection between the group was very good. Joyce Stafford took on the role of Marie, the new WI leader, and did it with a really natural performance which I very much appreciated. So often she is played with an ‘over the top’ accent etc but this delivery was easy and believable.

The male cast members provided a wonderful foil for the group of ladies, as their husbands and partners. Dean Zetter as John portrayed the decline in his health very movingly and the time when he passed away was sensitively done. Bill Edwards as Rod, had a great connection as a husband for Chris, and I loved the dry and long-suffering delivery of his lines as a man totally devoted to his wife. Lawrence, the porter and photographer, played by Ryan Stevens, was really enjoyable to watch. I loved the fun part as the porter and also the embarrassed photographer. This was cleverly positioned on the floor at the front of the stage and the ’reveals’ were carefully choreographed practiced.

The individual performances of the rest of the husbands and cast were thoughtful and well enacted but I must just mention the 3 ‘kids’. Danny, played by Tom Arnott, Jenny, played by Emma Thwaite and Tommo, played by Ruby Stevens, were really great and I loved each one of their individual performances whilst trying to cope with their extrovert mothers especially in the song ‘Protect me Less’

My apologies for not mentioning every cast member, but you all were just confident, believable members of that village in Yorkshire.

Richard Tew, as Musical Director led a great band only revealed to the audience at the end when the scenery was moved! There were some lovely harmonies and beautifully restrained but musical singing in this show: well done Richard.

To the director, Debbie Stevens, in her first experience of directing, I offer my congratulations. Directing in a small village hall needs creativity and imagination and I could see your hand in developing the characters in this fun but moving piece. Producer Tracey Mellor has obviously proved a great support and this creative team had produced a great show much admired and appreciated by the packed house.

Many thanks for your hospitality and I look forward to future performances.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.