‘Calendar Girls’ @ Allen Contemporary Theatre
—Hannah Kneen
Grief is always a difficult topic to approach in a play—but Calendar Girls at Allen Contemporary Theatre provides a refreshing outlook on this tricky subject.
Written by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi (based on the screenplay they wrote for the film of the same name), the story focuses on the friendship between Annie (Molly Bower) and Chris (Megan Tormey) and their circle of friends at the local Women’s Institute, a British tradition in most U.K. communities. After Annie loses her husband John to leukemia, the friends band together to raise money for a settee to replace the horrible man-eating one in the hospital’s waiting room.
How do they go about this, you may ask? By posing nude for a calendar. Almost nude. Now, you might have seen that one coming—but I haven’t seen the 2003 movie, and it came as a surprise.
News of their endeavor spreads like wildfire, catching the interest of the media far and wide. Chris gets caught up in the rush of publicity, and the resulting strain on her relationship with Annie becomes the main concern of the second act.
While Annie and Chris are at the center of the story, the other WI members are just as absorbing. Cora, Jessie, Celia, and Ruth also pose for the calendar and each have their own things going on. Cora (Laura Powers) is the pianist for their meetings. She’s estranged from the father of her daughter—and that causes trouble in the mother/daughter relationship too. Jessie is a retired teacher with the rather iconic line, “I have never had a problem with age…it has had a problem with me.” Jessie is normally played by Terry Ann Watts but, due to illness, director Kathleen Vaught stood in for the role at the performance I saw.
Celia (Jenny Wood) is a confident woman with a strong aversion to golf—caused by prolonged exposure to her husband’s golf club. Ruth (Gena Graham) lacks Celia’s confidence and is teased for kissing up to Marie (Kim White), the Chairwoman of their local WI group. Not to worry, though: despite Ruth’s initial reservations about posing nude for the calendar, she steps up and goes through a nice bit of personal growth.
Each member of the cast fits into the whole production beautifully. The main group of women are entertaining to watch: their intertwining friendships and the fun they have in each other’s company (especially during the calendar photo shoot) go right to the heart.
The guys pull their weight too. Chris Berthelot’s John is very loveable—we don’t get to know him long, but it’s so easy to grown fond of him that his death hits hard, even in a play that generally maintains a light-hearted atmosphere. The ensemble struggles a bit to find the right tonal shift when John dies, but make up for it later in the play: Annie and Chris’s reconciliation comes to mind. Luke Wallace’s Lawrence is meek in a very good way. His role as photographer wouldn’t come over as well had he not made us feel how much he’s in over his head. It certainly made his need for a bit of liquid courage funnier in the photo shoot scene.
Extra kudos to director Kathleen Vaught for my two favorite scenes: the photo shoot itself, and the ending. The photo shoot was handled with good taste, creativity, and humor. The final scene was very heartfelt and ended the show with a striking image of the sunflowers that flowered throughout the play as a visual theme. The set (designed by Abby Kipp Roberts) plays a physical part in creating that image, and so does an effective projection that literally colors the friends with sunshine. Kudos as well to lighting designer Martin Mussey for such a pleasant image.
Despite a few clumsy moments and too much time spent waiting for an empty stage to fill, I found Calendar Girls very enjoyable to watch. The story line is lovely (based on true events!), and it’s fun getting to know the characters, each of them charming in their own unique way.
Definitely a show worth seeing, but get your tickets early—it might sell out!
WHEN: Jan 26 - Feb 11, 2024
WHERE: Allen Contemporary Theatre
WEB: allencontemporarytheatre.net
