March 28, 2024
photo by stoo metz

Films don’t always translate well to the theatre, but Calendar Girls, based on the Miramax Motion Picture by Juliette Towhidi and Tim Firth, does make a compelling and sweet play. It succeeds largely because the story is so rooted in the relationships between the characters, and specifically the friendship between Annie (Shelley Thompson) and Chris (Martha Irving).

Based on a true story, Calendar Girls is about a group of women, Annie, Chris, Cora (Burgandy Code), Celia (Francine Deschepper), Ruth (Sharleen Kalayil), and Jessie (Marlane O’Brien) who decide to put together an “alternative calendar” of themselves in tasteful nude themed portraits in order to raise money to buy a new settee for the local hospital in memory of Annie’s husband who has passed away from cancer. They face resistance from Marie (Geneviève Steele), the chairwoman of their Women’s Institute Organization, and Annie and Chris’ friendship is tested as the response to the calendar threatens to steer the ladies away from their original focus and intentions. 

The play has quite a lot of humour, and the scenes of undress surrounding the making of the calendar are approached with a sense of playfulness and a confidence that largely comes from each of the six ladies empowering and buoying one another up. What struck me the most, however, were the more tender portrayals of friendship amongst women who had known one another for decades, and husbands and wives who had been married for just as long. So often in film and theatre we are shown the beginnings of relationships, it is rarer to have the opportunity to see the depth and nuance of a story that has already been so well and beautifully established. Also, having the opportunity to see so many different dynamics amongst women, especially more mature women, explored with such care and truthfulness, is still rare. 

The cast is uniformly strong. Daniel Lillford is absolutely heartbreaking as Annie’s ailing husband, John, and Jim Fowler is so sweet as Chris’ husband, Rod. It’s mentioned that Chris had the talent and ambition to leave their small town and become a “success” elsewhere, but opted instead to marry a flower shop owner, and we do get the sense in Chris and Rod’s relationship why she made that choice. Zach Faye captures a great sense of frazzled wonder, but also clearheaded enthusiasm for the project as the young calendar photographer. Mauralea Austin plays two completely disparate characters, both on the periphery of the story, but with so much perfectly detailed hilarity. Gil Anderson’s character, Elaine, shows how sometimes younger women are guilty of infantilizing, underestimating, and disregarding their female elders. Steele brings much of the play’s humour as Marie, a stickler for decorum, rules, history, and class. The others delight in rebelling against her, which is a reflection of a British society rebelling against Victorian and Imperial systems that are inherently classist, racist, and misogynistic. Marie also has a moment that is intensely dramatic and so loaded with subtext that it powerfully shifts the momentum of the story.    

Code, Deschepper, Irving, Kalayil, O’Brien, and Thompson each bring so much individuality and strength to their characters. Code has a beautiful mixture of insecurity and boldness as Cora, Deschepper’s Celia is guarded, but generous, Kalayil’s Ruth is the most apprehensive of the group, but ends up taking the strongest stand, O’Brien’s Jessie is full of quick-witted wisdom, Irving does a great job of capturing Chris’ tunnel-visioned inspiration and oscillating gently between feeding her own ego and nurturing Annie, and Thompson’s Annie is a beautiful portrait of a woman pushing through profound grief. 

John Dinning has constructed an imposing church hall set that makes way for a very realistic hilltop that gives the play some of its poignancy. There are a lot of moving elements, set and prop pieces, and director Jeremy Webb is skillful at keeping all that moving in a way that feels logical, but also doesn’t distract from the pillars of storytelling at the forefront of the production. The palpable sense of play at work here also seems characteristic of Webb, and his ability to balance the comedy with the drama the way these elements usually coexist in life. 

There is a real sweetness to Calendar Girls. It reminds us that we can all make an impact on the comfort and the welfare of others, and that when we work together and step outside our comfort zones, we often can have a reach well beyond what we imagined possible. It feels like a gentle story, because, even in conflict, most of the characters support and help one another (which feels rare), but it’s also a story about audacity, and power, irreverence and joyful rebellion. 

Calendar Girls plays at Neptune Theatre’s Fountain Hall (1593 Argyle Street, Halifax) until March 29th, 2020. March 10th is Industry Night, March 11 is Talkback Night, and March 25 is a Relaxed Performance. Tickets are $30.00-$84.00 and are available ONLINE HERE, by phone at 902.429.7070 or at the Box Office on Argyle Street.

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