Calendar Girls, The Musical

This was a night of firsts for me – my first time seeing Calendar Girls, The Musical, and also my first time seeing EODS performing a piece of musical theatre (my previous visits had all been to concert performances.)   And a great night it proved to be, as the EODS team presented an evening of funny, moving and above all entertaining theatre. 

Calendar Girls tells the story of a group of Yorkshire women, members of their local WI, who come up with an ingenious plan to raise money for their local hospital, in memory of the husband of one of their number, who had sadly died of cancer.  Their plan – to produce a calendar in which they appear naked, with nothing but some judiciously placed objects to preserve their modesty.  This sort of thing seems to be quite common nowadays, so it’s easy to forget the stir that this true story made back in the day.  But their journey is anything but plan sailing, as the women must confront their own insecurities, and the might of the WI, before emerging nakedly triumphant. 

Gail Andrews invested the character of Chris, the instigator of the calendar plan, with great energy and optimism, despite her many great ideas often coming to nothing!  Alongside her, Amanda Golding played Annie, the death of whose husband provided the catalyst, a difficult and emotional role performed with skill and warmth.  Her song ‘Scarborough’ was moving and well delivered.  Meanwhile, as the unfortunate John, Steve Roberts was every bit the life and soul, even in the midst of his illness, making his sad loss sting the harder.

The rest of the calendar girls were Gemma Bailey as Cora, full of spirit despite her difficult family circumstances; Bev Howlett as Jessie, with a nice line in trenchant comments; Lynne Neale as vampish man-eater Celia; and Nicola Jackson as buttoned-up Ruth, who turns out to be a secret boozer.  Not to mention Tracey Wallbank and Celia Barradell as the Miss Wilsons, who unexpectedly got in on the act!  All of them gave their all in memorable performances.

The younger actors also pulled their weight, with Ethan Nicol and Evan Wride an engaging double act as Danny and Tommo; and Abigail Roberts making Jenny’s transition from truculent teenager to supportive comrade totally convincing.  Rounding out the cast were Rebecca Barclay as Marie, nicely evoking the ‘stick in the mud’ WI traditionalist, before finally coming round; Marcus Gilks as Rod, Chris’s long-suffering husband, full of witty asides; and Nathan Warren as Lawrence, the photographer who helps the ladies realise their plan.  A ten-strong ensemble added energy and colour to the group scenes. 

Director Alison Roberts managed the action very effectively, pulling on the heartstrings one moment, making us laugh the next.  The Women’s Institute evenings were well evoked, with the ‘Jam and Jerusalem’ stereotype effectively mined for humour.  And when they let their hair down, ‘Who Wants a Silent Night’ provided an opportunity for a wonderfully raucous singalong, introducing some more movement and good humour.  Celia’s song ‘So I’ve Had a Little Work Done’ was also amusingly done, with good work from the dance ensemble.

Calendar Girls does, of course, present some of its actors with a very particular challenge, that of getting at least partially naked on stage.  Appropriately placed props and costume notwithstanding, this is a really daring thing to do, so three cheers to all of those who took the plunge!  There was a real frisson to the atmosphere as each took their turn, to well-deserved ovations from the audience.  It struck me that whilst the real ‘calendar girls’ only had to do it once, in relative privacy, the EODS actors had to do it multiple times, and in front of an audience!  

The play was staged in a nice set, featuring a countryside scene and a section of wall that opened up to reveal the meeting room at the Village Hall where the WI met.  This was very effective and operated seamlessly by the cast and crew to keep the action moving.  Sound and lighting was also well executed, particularly for the pivotal scenes of undress.  Costume was well chosen and effective, especially when called upon to preserve a little modesty!

Well done also to EODS for really getting into the spirit of the story, with funds being raised for cancer charities via all manner of souvenirs, including their very own ‘Calendar Girls’ calendar!  We all know someone who has lost a friend or relative to cancer, so this is a cause that touches so many people and EODS deserve congratulations for ‘walking the walk’, as it were.  Well done, and I look forward to seeing you all again next year, when Funny Girl visits the Henrician.

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