AS FEELGOOD a theatrical experience as it was a film, Calendar Girls is never less than endearing and retains an emotional punch despite the familiarity of the story. Lynda Bellingham and Patricia Hodge lead the cast as members of the Yorkshire Women
's Institute who pose nude to raise money for cancer sufferers, after Annie (Hodge) loses her husband to leukaemia.
Writer Tim Firth revels in the challenge of adapting his own screenplay, exploiting the difficulty of presenting six ladies naked on stage without the audience spying so much as a nipple for big laughs.
Although the dialogue is less naturalistic, the staginess suits the unlikely scenario, while the performances are earthier and doubtless closer to their inspirations than their cinematic counterparts. Elaine C Smith and Siân Phillips deliver the pick of the comic lines, not least the latter's strident deal-breaker "no front bottoms!" But Gaynor Faye and Julia Hills are every bit as game and it's very much an ensemble piece.
With the photoshoot such a charged moment, bringing the first half to a close, the energy dips slightly in the middle of the second, especially as Chris (Bellingham) and Annie's falling out is shamelessly contrived Hollywood material. Yet through real life, film and now a play, what impacts upon you is the bare-cheeked indomitability of these women. Chris's speech to the WI conference is a dry-your-eyes moment and audible gasps still echo around the theatre when Bellingham, the posh dolly bird from Confessions of a Driving Instructor turned Oxo Mum, disrobes for the first time. Best of all for a Scottish audience, however, is the reaction the calendar provokes in Barlinnie.
The full article contains 284 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
