Review by Jen Tucker
Calendar Girls by Tim Firth is a heartwarming comedy based on the true story of Yorkshire Women’s Institute members who, to honour the recent death of one of their husbands, devised and posed for a nude calendar to raise money for leukaemia research. It was performed by Edinburgh People’s Theatre, a longstanding drama group who have performed at every Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 1947, at the Church Hill Theatre in Morningside. With a strong ensemble and energetic leads, EPT’s rendition of the play is equal parts droll and moving, promising a raucously entertaining yet touching evening of theatre.
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| left to right: Sharon Wilson (Celia), Helen E. Nix (Jessie), Aileen Copland (ensemble), Ruth Finlay (Ruth), Frances Bain (Cora - n.b she is the person playing the piano), Lynn Cameron (Annie), Victoria Wilkinson, Bev Wright, Ellen McFadzen (all ensemble) and Carol Bryce (Chris). Photo by Graham Bell |
Opening mid-meeting at the Yorkshire Women’s Institute, a detailed set establishes the scene and plunges us into the characters’ world. Relationships and caricatured personalities are introduced, and we meet formidable characters like the feisty Jessie, cheeky Chris, sassy Celia and sardonic Cora, alongside the WI’s more proper characters such as Ruth and its president Mari. The entire cast, including the ensemble characters who create a bustling atmosphere in accompaniment to the main action, makes a strong impression, and as they listen to a boring talk about ‘the fascinating world of broccoli’, tittering to themselves like schoolgirls in the back of a classroom, it is impossible not to giggle along with them. This is an irresistibly charming cast of unlikely allies, played beautifully by the women of the Edinburgh People’s Theatre.
The play’s leading ladies, Carol Bryce (Chris), Lynn Cameron (Annie), Frances Bain (Cora), Helen E Nix (Jessie), Sharon Wilson (Celia), and Ruth Finlay (Ruth), are a force to be reckoned with. Each have strong comedic timing, wasting none of Tim Firth’s one-liners and quips as they tackle the script with nuanced wit. Sharon Wilson as the self-obsessed yet loveable Celia, a neglected housewife clad in leopard print, had the audience in stitches throughout the show; her effortlessly melodramatic acting rivals that of Alison Steadman. I must also mention Ellen McFadzen as Elaine and member of the ensemble, whose performance as a klutzy beautician in Act Two, as well as a French news reporter with fantastically hilarious ad libs, breathes new energy into the play as it comes towards its finish. She is wickedly funny, and wastes none of her little stage time to make a compelling impression. Other standout performances include Carol Bryce as Chris, the driving force behind the ‘alternative’ charity calendar following the death of her best friend Annie’s husband. She is a natural on the stage and we warm to her quickly, her bolshy nature contrasting with the more earnest disposition of bereaved Annie, played with a beautiful gentleness from Lynn Cameron. Their close friendship, depicted powerfully by both actors, is the beating heart of the play, and encapsulates what the show seeks to celebrate: the power of community and group action in the face of unspeakable tragedy.
Speaking of the play’s infamous calendar, the work from director Jacqueline Wheble (assisted by Kelly Edie) in the nude photoshoot sequence is genius. With precariously placed buns and suggestive jars of marmalade, the audience see almost everything, and the ladies of the Edinburgh People’s Theatre approach this scene with fantastic wit, coordination and audacity. Met with raucous applause from the audience, it is a genuinely uplifting scene, and a celebration of middle-aged womanhood and its beauty.
Of course, the play takes a sombre turn from the giddy excitement of the calendar’s conception; as the women rebel and persevere to print and sell the calendar, confronting media, business and the temptations of fame as they raise over half a million pounds for leukaemia research, we are reminded what is really important. A particular highlight of Act Two is the moment when Annie receives hundreds of letters from other bereaved people, whose loved ones have suffered from leukaemia just as her husband John did. This production’s choice to have letters fall from above the stage is beautifully touching, a physical representation of how many people the disease has affected and a reminder that there are real people at this story’s core.
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| front row: Ruth Finlay, Carol Bryce, Lynn Cameron, Sharon Wilson and Frances Bain. Back row is Helen E. Nix. Photo by Graham Bell |
Calendar Girls is a seemingly light-hearted and frivolous play with bite at its core. Brought to life beautifully by the cast and crew of the Edinburgh People’s Theatre, it is about the power of laughter, of not taking life too seriously, and the importance of community in the face of unspeakable tragedy.
⭐⭐⭐.5
Calendar Girls is performed at Church Hill Theatre until Saturday 30th May. Find tickets and more information about Edinburgh People’s Theatre by visiting their website https://ept.org.uk/
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