Calendar Girls

Calendar Girls is one of those plays that can’t fail – it is really well written, and has gentle humour, laugh out loud amusement, quiet moments, and downright tear-jerking pathos.

The six main principal ladies were all very strong characters, not a weak link between them, I could really believe the bond between them.

I liked the cut out set depicting the church hall – however, the fact that everyone was squashed into two-thirds of the stage for the majority of the play was a shame.

Lighting was good, and I liked the choice of music.  It was unobtrusive but suited the mood where it was used.

Props overall were good, the sunflower umbrellas for the finale were inspired, and created a lovely poignant ending.  Left me with a few tears – always a good sign!!

The photo session was beautifully done – the ladies all looked comfortable doing it, which made the audience able to enjoy it, and it was very well-accomplished.

Costumes were mostly good – although I would have liked to see Ruth in a proper rabbit costume – as what she was wearing for that scene did not resemble an animal, so some of the humour was lost.

Sarah Brindley as Cora gave us a lovely performance, as the single parent mother, daughter of the vicar and organist at the church.  She got the nuances of the woman wanting to break out and be herself, whilst also needing to keep the restrictions of her life to date.

Chris, the go-getter organiser of the whole calendar, was very well-played by Jan Westgarth.  I liked her full-on management of the rest of the ladies, and her slightly irreverent view of the WI!

Viv Fairley gave us a lovely performance as Annie, she was utterly believable, in her anguish and acceptance of the situation.  I would have liked the argument between Chris and Annie to have been slightly slower in delivery to give it a bit more depth.

Sheila Scull as Jessie, the one time school teacher, had some very funny lines, which she delivered particularly well, and were at odds with her rather prim and proper persona.

Mary Watkinson was Celia, she tackled the rather complex part very well, and managed to show her more glamorous side, which was at odds with the more restrained WI ladies!

Ruth, played nicely by Barbara Suggitt, was the rather reserved and undemonstrative member of the WI, who always did what the president said – loved the Westlife project!!

Pip Dowdell gave us a very snobby WI president, Marie, which sat well with the members personas, and gave another dimension to the piece.

I take my hat off to Robin Langer as John, for shaving his head to achieve the significance of the treatment to him – it was a brave thing to do, but necessary to keep the realism.

Joe Maher was Rod, Chris’s husband – because of the juxtaposition of their characters I wanted a little more wryness from him, with the knowledge that Chris would only do what she wanted.

Margaret Skilton played both Brenda, the WI speaker, and Lady Cravenshire, giving us a firm portrayal for both characters.

Elaine was a nice cameo role for Hannah Reeve – very believable in that she was enjoying a dalliance with Eddy, Ruth’s husband.

The final member of the cast was Jonathan Field, as both the photographer Lawrence, and the TV producer Liam.  I liked his portrayal of Liam better than that of Lawrence, but that said, he did well with both.

So, all in all an excellent production that touched us all, I am sure in different ways depending on our personal experiences.  We laughed uproariously, and shed some tears, and saw a well-acted production that Julie Field and her cast can be rightly proud of.

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