AMATEUR THEATRE REVIEW: Calendar Girls - The Met Theatre, Bury.

Prestwich Amateur Dramatic And Operatic Society - PADOS for short - returned to their second home of Bury's Met Theatre this week to present their version of the popular Gary Barlow / Tim Firth musical, 'Calendar Girls'.  It is at this point I feel I should make a confession; I had never seen the musical before. I have never seen the stage play. I have never watched the film. I knew little to nothing about the show other than that a bunch of middle-aged women from a Yorkshire WI, decide to produce a nudie calendar and ostensibly "get their t*ts out!". The idea of the show, the whole shebang of the story, simply didn't grab me, and I felt it really was not for me and was not interested in it, and so, until this evening had managed to avoid it. One, I was utterly wrong in my preconceptions; and two, the musical had heart, depth, and I am now regretting not having had any contact with this show earlier. In short, I loved it!

PADOS has produced, what now for me will be, the bar upon which I will judge any future productions of this musical I see; and let me tell you straight away, that bar is extremely high! Superb casting and sincere acting meant that I was fully invested in the show right from the start. Normally, as a reviewer I manage to stay quite detached from the happenings on stage - a silent observer if you like. However, that simply was not possible this evening, and I was swept up in this tumultuous emotional rollercoaster all the way, laughing and crying, rooting for the good, and I left the theatre physically drained, but completed sated. 

Yes the story is set in Yorkshire, and yes it does concern the local WI, and yes, they do decide to produce a calendar, but there is much more to the story that just those bare bones, and the reasons for the women - all of whom have their own characters and situations - baring all is what makes this show. That, and the fact that the story is based on reality. And of course, when it came to the making of the calendar I had no idea really how this would be done; but it was just excellent, with each lady receiving her own individual and spontaneous applause from the audience. Tasteful, clever, poignant, and yet also highly humorous too. Masterly. 

Tracey Dawson played Annie; the lady who lost her husband to cancer, and thus became the catalyst for Chris (Jill Ratcliffe) to turn that thought into the idea of making a calendar [through the free calendars supplied by the Dutch company that supplied her florist business]. Dawson's solo songs, especially the two she has in the first act, were highly emotive and came from a very real place; I simply couldn't help myself from welling up. Her sincerity and conviction was nicely juxtaposed with the more comedic antics of ex-air hostess Celia (Elinor Hamilton), and vodka-loving Ruth (Dawn-Marie Nicholls). Loren Fagelman was the more frumpish - well she was the vicar's daughter! - Cora, underplaying her role to great effect; and the group was complete with Jessie, played with aplomb this evening by Shirley Harrison. Showing a great command of the stage and wonderful comedic timing, Harrison was, for me at least, one of the show's highlights. 

The book for this show is very clever; I loved the way it placed pathos between comedy, and pitched contemporary teenagers against their parents and grandparents. It all felt very real and relevant; the show pulled no punches at all, and yet one simply could not take offence at any of it. Barlow and Firth should rightly be extremely proud of this creation. (I do think that much of the content comes from more than just simple imagination though.... but that's another story!)

The new lady in town, boss of the WI, and snob, Marie was played with a certain relish by Angela Grady, and the subplot concerning the antics of her daughter, Jenny (Isobel Cunliffe) and Chris's son Danny (Ethan Neale) was excellently observed. The cast completed with the ladies' various husbands, the photographer and the tea ladies, all of whom brought much to their roles and the show.

The set was a very interesting idea, which should have worked perhaps better than it did. A full size screen covered the rear wall - upon which projections of location were shown, however, these were few and far between and most of the time it was just a single colour. Perhaps a few more location-pointers on the rear wall would have helped. Whilst a little downstage from this, two "walls" of drawers, cupboards, ledges, etc all compact and cleverly concealed, so that one moment the whole could be a hedgerow, and the next the interior of the church hall. Piano, cakes, tables and telephone all hidden within. However, the florist shop accoutrements was a separate item, as was the all-important sofa. I think with a little more thought in the design, all (save the wheelbarrow) should have come from these "walls". I found it a little distracting watching stage crew bring these other things on and off whilst the stage is fully lit and having plant pots or artificial flowers fall onto the stage, all be it by accident, and pull focus. It just felt a little clumsy. If the cast move the set some of the time.. why not all of the time.

Director Mark Rosenthal knew what he was doing here, and brought out the very best from all his cast, producing a relatable and powerful, not forgetting VERY humorous, piece of musical theatre with the help of Helen Wilkinson's choreography and Nick Sanders' and Gemma Price's solid and melodious musical direction. Profound, cogent, and completely from the heart. 

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 27.4.22