Poignant, uplifting and meaningful story about power of human nature

I WASN’T really sure what to expect when I visited the Mill at Sonning for Sally Hughes’s production of Calendar Girls.

Normally before a review, I do my research so that I have some idea of the plot and characters, but this time I decided not to.

All I knew was that members of a Women’s Institute branch decided to pose naked for a calendar with strategically placed fruit, cakes and a piano…

I’m glad I didn’t know more because the emotionally intense and imaginative delivery interspersed with lighter moments was indeed a revelation.

So the story is of the WI of Knapely, Yorkshire, discussing the subject of the photos for their next calendar. Marie (the wonderful Elizabeth Elvin) is the prim one recommending the usual local scenes.

The other women are not impressed and, punctuated by expertly choreographed tai chi poses, the storyline emerges.

Annie’s (Natalie Ogle) husband John (Andrew Ryan), clearly portrayed as loving and fun, is diagnosed with leukaemia.

Chris (Rachel Fielding), Annie’s best friend, visits the couple in hospital, complains about the uncomfortable settee in the waiting room and suggests they raise money to replace it by posing naked for the new calendar while engaging in traditional WI activities, tastefully done of course.

From the start, the mix of emotions from the cast covering a whole range of reactions was really well done.

Eventually, though, they overcome their shyness and get to work. Lawrence (Oscar Cleaver), an amateur photographer who worked at the hospital and got to know John well, was very convincing in his role, simultaneously embarrassed and assertive.

The changing of each woman behind the screen was sensitively portrayed… no mean feat in an auditorium with a horseshoe shape. Marie shows her disapproval of the calendar’s production so the women go to the WI in London with their idea and Marie reluctantly agrees. The calendar is launched.

Sales escalate and a media frenzy follows. Personal differences are ignited by all the fuss and tension spills over between Chris and Annie.

In this production, fan mail drops from the ceiling, showing Annie’s delight in all the comments from strangers with their own stories of cancer and how the calendar brightened their lives, confirming her newfound purpose.

Against that, Chris’s husband feels neglected because of her involvement with the cause.

I felt this was realistically done and showed how easily we can become immersed in celebrity culture while forgetting those around us in the real world.

In a TV appearance, the producers hand out flimsy provocative outfits to the women to put on, getting the wrong idea completely of what the whole venture is about and turning it into something cheap and vulgar.

The way this was shown at the Mill was very sobering and moving and made me think that so often our motives in life can be completely misunderstood and turned into something else. Of course, the women decline.

From the proceeds of the sales of the calendar (around £500,000) a new leukaemia wing in memory of John was built at the hospital. A triumph over adversity.

Sally Hughes gave us a poignant, uplifting and meaningful interpretation of the Calendar Girls story.

I think everyone came away from the theatre learning a lot about human nature rising above tragedy and being brave enough to do something different, imaginative and productive to counteract the sadness we often encounter in life.

Congratulations to all the cast and everyone involved in
this moving and worthwhile
production.

Calendar Girls runs until June 1.

Pamela Chilvers