Calendar Girls

Seeing Calendar Girls for the third time was a slightly odd experience, since I found myself - totally unexpectedly - sitting next to John Sutherland who had played John (the leukaemia sufferer) in the Waterside Theatre Company production and was therefore watching Tim Schuler playing his part.

The set gave a very fine representation of a village hall, with a dado rail and panelling below the painted wall and notices.  The two central flats opened-out to reveal the Yorkshire moors beyond (though from my perspective, I could have done with just a little less sky and a bit more moor).

The girls themselves were excellent.  At the heart of the story were Sarah Short as Annie, John’s wife and Di Buck as the pushy, extrovert Chris, but all the girls get their turn in the spotlight - Hilary Causey as retired teacher, Jessie, Hannah Marks as the fashion-addicted golf widow, Celia, the expressive Gemma Wilks as the musical Cora and Michelle Bradley-Harris as the timid Ruth (winning my admiration for, amongst other things, playing the scripted badminton match against Fiona Crosthwaite Eyre’s Marie.)

On the night I saw the show, the first half was taken a little quickly - the audience were enjoying themselves hugely, and needed a little more space to laugh and, in some cases, to gasp at the calendar poses.  This seemed to be resolved by the interval, and the second act seemed to be more comfortably paced.

The previous productions I had seen doubled Lawrence, the photographer from the first half with Liam, the advertising film director from the second half.  This production split the two, leading to a bigger contrast between David Foote playing the nervous Lawrence and a delightfully camp turn from Neville Green as Liam.

The production brought out the comedy and pathos of the story and the deep satisfaction of the audience.

[Review edited 14/9/2013 to correct a juxtaposition of actors and characters.  Apologies to those concerned and to those confused by this error.]

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