Calendar Girls
We all know the story of the ladies from a Yorkshire W.I. who took the world by storm with their fund raising calendar; television and radio news was filled with the jam making group from the Dales who took their kit off for Leukaemia – there was even a blockbuster movie about them. So what could possibly bring people flocking to see the stage performance of this heartbreaking, but ultimately, uplifting tale? Perhaps the strong cast of household favourites like Lesley Joseph, Sue Holderness, Ruth Madoc and Kacey Ainsworth to name but a few, perhaps the writing skills of Tim Firth or perhaps the mere fact that everyone at some time will know someone with the evil disease that kills. Whatever the reasons, Calendar Girls sells out wherever it plays and justifiably so; Tim Firth’s writing flows beautifully - from making us laugh out loud to having us shed silent tears as we remember loved ones who are no longer with us.
Calendar Girls is fast paced and hilarious, the strong cast connect with the audience from the opening scene and the connection grows stronger as the story unfolds and the ladies prepare to go nude (not naked) for the camera. With teapots, flowers and buns at the ready, the Calendar Girls prepare for their photographs while the incredible bond between audience and cast reaches dizzy heights. The timing of each strip is brilliantly choreographed, but live theatre can go wrong and the audience knows it, as we silently urge each actress to get it right. And get it right they did, each one being showered with richly deserved and very loud roars of approval.
There are so many reasons why this award winning play puts bums on seats, the humour, the poignant true story itself and the strong cast, but there is something else, something less tangible - the overwhelming feeling of sharing something, of being in it together is impossible to describe; being drawn in to something very special by the Calendar Girls will stay with us for a long time to come.