A story full of heart, humour and emotion with a brilliant atmosphere created through the set and lighting
Calendar Girls is a heartwarming story, based on real events and centred on a small community of women. It portrays each of their own struggles and focusses on how they are a huge support in each other’s lives. It was a joy to watch, but also to see the audience members around me enthralled in the story and reacting with tears and laughter. The seven women leads all played their parts with great character and I enjoyed getting to know each one individually throughout the show.
The standout feature, for me, was the set and lighting design. Because the story is centred on the community of a Women’s Institute, it was very fitting to build an enclosed village hall in the centre of the stage and have the entire production within the walls. It gave a great atmosphere and was brilliantly executed with few set changes. The time of day and the way time passed were shown with the changing sky through the windows of the hall, which I thought worked very well. The story is an important message of the same women supporting each other through in the cosy space of the village hall while the seasons inevitably move on – it almost seemed like a sanctuary to them, where they could all meet and fix the world’s problems with a cup of tea. I also loved how the lighting within the hall was used to give warm glows of autumn, and the spring sunlight beaming in. Hats off to the lighting and set team!
The cast were fantastic, the story was very easy to follow and constantly entertaining. It went from making the audience laugh to making them cry multiple times with beautiful storytelling. The band was small but effective and tight, and I noticed almost no hiccups.
Tanya Franks was fantastic as the character of Annie and provided the sad moments with beautiful sensitivity; I’m sure there was not a dry eye in the room during her songs about her husband, John. Amy Robbins, who played Chris, was a standout actor. She had fantastic comedic timing and filled the stage with Chris’ big personality, rallying the other women in her outlandish ideas.
One of my favourite parts was Paula Tappendin’s performance as Marie, singing ‘Mrs Rebellious’. It had lots of gusto and was certainly a turning point for Marie, showing a side to the character which hadn’t been seen up till then. This song isn’t in the original cast recording as it’s a recent addition, but I think it’s important to Marie’s story and made her character much more three-dimensional.
The opening was a little underwhelming for me, however I do appreciate this is a style choice. I couldn’t find much wrong with it, but at times I felt the vocals weren’t as strong as those I’ve heard in other musicals.
Overall, this is a wonderful musical about the importance of friendship, community, and female strength. It was inspiring and lovely from start to finish. Being 22, joining a Women’s Institute has never appealed to me before but I’d like to join this one!