Calendar Girls (Leeds Grand, 19/03/11)

For Mother's day this year I planned ahead from October last year and secured tickets to the very popular Calendar Girls play, based on the film, based on the real-life story of the WI from Cracoe who created a nude calendar to raise funds for leukemia research following the death of a member's husband. My Mum and Dad (who came along too, even though it's not Father's day) both know several of the real 'calendar girls' and they were both eager to see the play. I'd seen the movie and enjoyed it, while Andrew came to it fresh. All 4 of us, with various levels of investment in the story, came away very happy - the play's hilarious, touching and a lot of fun. 

It was one of the starriest casts I've ever seen on a stage - Bernie Nolan, Lynda Bellingham, Trudie Goodwin, Lisa Riley, Gwen Taylor, Jennifer Ellison, Ruth Madoc, Joe McGann, Bruno Langley, and Diana Moran and Danielle Lineker - to name but 9 people I recognised and 2 who I've got a passing knowledge of. It wasn't until the break between acts that I realised who was playing the lead role, that of Annie the bereaved widow, none other than Trudie 'June from The Bill / mother of Le Roux' Goodwin, who looked utterly different with long blonde hair. She was great - in fact I couldn't pick fault with any of the casting, but I would single out Bellingham as the star of the show with some of the best lines. Lisa Riley was surprisingly funny too. 

My problem with the story of Calendar Girls the play is the same as my problem with the movie - the plot device where Annie and Chris fall out feels artificial, and seems to only exist in only for there to be some resolution at the climax. Otherwise there isn't much of an ending beyond the massive success of the calendar. That's the only thing that doesn't sit right in a play that careful balances pathos with laughter, on a simple set, mostly within the confines of the WI's hall, with the occasional jaunt out to the 'hillside'. By necessity more 'stagey' than the film, other than the line 'we're going to need considerably bigger buns' there was little that I could recall coming directly from the movie. Characters such as Chris' son who were in the film were cut out of the play, to no detrimental effect. Both versions of the story sit comfortably together. Seeing one doesn't mean you've seen both. 

No analysis of the Calendar Girls would be complete without mention of the nudity... As expected, it's tastefully done and not a single nipple is on display to the audience due to artfully placed buns, tea pots, hymn sheets, and in Lisa Riley's case, a whole jam-making operation. It's all played for laughs, with the heart backing up the reason for the calendar and the real life difference it has made.