Review: Calendar Girls, Theatre Royal, Bath. Until February 17.
2:12pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in Theatre & Arts By Alison Phillips
From left, Camilla Dallerup, Lisa Riley, Sue Holderness, June Watson, Jan Harvey, Jane Lambert, Ruth Madoc, Lynda Bellingham, and, at the piano, Deena Payne in Calendar Girls
This is a show that really does run the full gamut of emotions – often within one scene. One minute you are laughing out loud at the outrageous barbed witticisms, the next, you’re struck full in the face by the tragedy that is life with cancer.
The story of how one small Yorkshire WI broke the mould when they set out to raise ‘about £500’ for a new settee for the waiting room at their local hospital’s cancer unit is now well known.
Their nude – note the terminology, please, this is the ladies of the WI we are talking about here – calendar attracted worldwide publicity and acclaim –and to date has raised over £3 million for Leukaemia Research.
The stage version of the film which dramatised their experiences presents the cast with the same challenge which faced the original ladies: how far will you go?
There’s a challenge for the audience too: this may be the 21st century but seeing actresses who have played major roles in some of TV’s most popular dramas over the last 20 or so years with no clothes on is still something of a shocker. Front bottoms or not.
Lynda Bellingham, who originally created the role of Chris, fairly sparkles as the ‘bad girl’ of the WI, while Jan Harvey’s portrayal of Annie, the wife so cruelly bereaved, brings a lump to the throat.
It is a treat to see such a top-class cast, and their skill enhances the play’s realism: because you cannot help but empathise with their portrayals, you also share the character’s angst about baring their all and the poignancy of their triumph.
