Review – Calendar Girls
Date Reviewed: 17th March, 2009
Venue: The Lowry
In Calendar Girls the Women’s’ Institute (WI) is described as a front organisation which gives respectable women the chance to cut loose and go a bit nutty. Director Hamish McColl clearly agrees with this sentiment as his stage production based on the hit film, creates a pleasantly eccentric atmosphere in which friendships are forged and tested as the ladies embark on a journey via a bizarre fund-raising idea.
The play is set in motion by the early death of John (Gary Lilburn) the husband of Annie (Patricia Hodge). Sharing her grief the WI agree to raise funds to buy a sofa for the relatives’ room at the hospital. As their past fund-raising activities have not been successful they agree to a radical approach put forward by Chris (Lynda Bellingham) – to produce a calender of themselves undertaking typical WI activities but with a difference. They will be nude, not, it is charmingly made clear, “naked.”
Tim Firth has adapted his own screenplay for the stage and therefore the cast of characters has been reduced and less successful sequences eliminated altogether. The second act still has problems, as there is a sense of the author creating conflict between the characters and as such, it feels half-hearted.
Some mention is made of financial problems at the florist shop owned by Chris but we never find out if these are resolved. But, crucially, Firth is able to balance the humour of the situation against a background of loss. Although some of the characters are laughing to avoid crying, the laughter is incredibly genuine. This balance of humour and realism cleverly avoids sentimentality. A scene in which letters from bereaved relatives shower onto the stage communicating the relief they gained from the calender concludes with one from a prison inmate expressing more basic appreciation.
An excellent cast is led by Bellingham who goes for, and gets, big laughs. Although the strain of a heavy tour schedule is evident in her voice, she carries on like a real trooper. It would be exhausting if the rest of the cast took a similar approach but each delivers a distinct character. Hodge skillfully pulls the heart strings as grief stricken Annie and Brigit Forsyth selflessly plays the straight role with aplomb, adding an essential element, in order for the comedy to work. As good as the individual performances are, it is the brilliant chemistry between the actors that makes them so convincing as a group of friends.
But really the success of the production depends on whether director McColl can make the calender photoshoot as rib-tickling as the film. Actually, on stage it is even better. Although stripped, the actors conceal their bodies in ways that are imaginative, funny and increasingly ridiculous. It is so good that, at times the rest of the play does sometimes feel like it has lost momentum slightly.
The second half shows the positive and negative impact which the success of the project has upon the participants. It covers a range of themes such as female empowerment and ageism and is consistently entertaining. But none seem as important as the one that runs throughout this moving play – the importance of friendship.
Excellent performances and ‘that scene’, combined with some genuinely sad moments make this one date that you cannot afford to miss on your calendar. It’s a shame it’s sold out. If you can get returns from the box office, you won’t regret it.
-Dave Cunningham