REVIEW

TITLE: Calendar Girls

VENUE: LBT

REVIEW: William Marshall

THIS is, of course, the play of the film of the calendar that became a global news sensation.

The exploits of the ladies of Rylstone WI in North Yorkshire spawned the craze for nude, fundraising calendars, which is a mixed blessing at best.

But the original naughty-but-nice saga is a lively story that became a hit film, adapted for the stage by its scriptwriter Tim Firth.

The episode had a melancholy origin. The famous nearly-nude calendar featuring the WI ladies was produced to raise funds in the wake of the death of one of their husbands.

And in this Huddersfield Thespians production – directed by Keith Royston – the scenes shared by Miriam Marsden as Annie and Stuart Davison as terminally ill John are movingly done and beautifully played, while the passage of the seasons in back projection, accompanied by judiciously chosen music (including Vaughan Williams at his most plaintive) adds to the effect.

But the play is 80 per cent comedy, filled with the joshing banter between the WI ladies and their defiance of their hoity toity chairwoman, played by Melanie Hudson.

The story is heavily fictionalised, with the name of the village and the WI changed to Napeley, and presumably the personal stories of the ladies are largely an invention.

There is a lot of broad humour, some of it Carry On-ish in nature – indeed Daren Wild as flustered photographer Lawrence puts in a funny performance that is reminiscent of Kenneth Connor at his most hot and bothered. David Smith’s camp ad man comes from the same comic tradition.

So what about the actual nude calendar shoot? Yes, it is recreated here and done in the best possible taste, utilising some ingenious, burlesque stagecraft so that we don’t get too much of an eyeful.

The core cast of WI ladies have contrasting stories and personal histories, which are well brought out by Rebecca Starrett as Chris, Julie Root as Celia, Lynne Whitaker as Jessie, Melanie Duff as Ruth and Prue Griffiths as Cora.

The production is quite brisk, although we could perhaps have done with one sub-plot less in the second half.

This is a popular piece that raises plenty of laughs – especially among women in the audience.

It runs until Saturday, when there is also a matinee.