REVIEW
Calendar Girls
Where: Langham Court Theatre
When: To June 29
Rating: 3 stars (out of five)
There are precious few cheeks to be seen in Calendar Girls, the cheeky and feather-light comedy that just opened at Langham Court Theatre.
Calendar Girls, Tim Firth’s play based on the 2003 film, is sort of a Full Monty for women. It’s about a gaggle of middle-aged Yorkshire women who doff their togs for a charity calendar.
The funniest scene, naturally, is when the Victoria Theatre Guild gals act out the photo shoot. It’s a tastefully done sequence with zero naughty bits showing — still, one must admire the performers’ moxy in appearing semi-nude.
After that Act I highlight, which is quite amusing, the thing deflates like a week-old balloon. It’s the fault of the script, not the actors, in this case a cast of varying abilities directed by Michael King. The humour seems overly broad and the plot clunky, but I suspect this opinion puts me in the minority. Thursday’s audience roared often and loudly. And apparently, the run is already held over.
Overall, Calendar Girls is garden-variety sitcom fare in which emotional responses are manipulated rather than coaxed. The “girls,” all members of a women’s institute, participate in the nudie calendar to raise money in memory of of one of their husbands, who has died of cancer. That gives the proceedings a weepy underpinning which is perked up by irreverent joking from the gals.
There are other sub-plots: One of the ladies gets carried away with the showbiz attention their stunt attracts; the head of the women’s institute (played by a plummy-voiced Rosemary Jeffery) disappoves. It all seems a bit cobbled together, though.
The aims of community theatre are different from those of professional productions. Quality aside, it’s most important that the players and the audience have fun. In this, Calendar Girls succeeds absolutely. Most of the cast have good moments; Langham Court newcomer Vicky Etchells and Wendy Magahay are among the brighter sparks.