CALENDAR GIRLS

Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 March 2012 at 7.30pm in the studio theatre.

THE STORY When Annie’s husband John dies of Leukaemia she and her best friend Chris decide to raise money for a new settee for the local hospital waiting room. They manage to persuade four fellow Women’s Institute members CORA, CELIA, RUTH and JESSIE to pose nude for an ‘alternative’ calendar, with a little help from hospital porter and amateur photographer Lawrence. News of the women’s charitable venture spreads like wild fire and hordes of press soon descend on the small village of Knapely in the Yorkshire Dales. The Calendar is a success but Chris and Annie’s friendship is put to the test under the strain of new found fame.

Based on a true story of eleven WI members who posed nude for a calendar to raise money for Leukaemia Research Fund, Calendar Girls opened at the Chichester Festival Theatre and has since become the fastest selling play in British theatre history. ‘It’s marvellous theatre, guaranteed to make you laugh, cry and come out singing ‘Jerusalem’ (Mail on Sunday).

Descriptions of the characters are given under ‘Cast’ below. The first six listed characters are the ‘Calendar Girls’ – the rest remain clothed throughout……

CHRIS (50’s) You would want Chris at your party; she will talk to people she doesn’t know and generate lots of laughter. Chris is at home in crowds, holding court, being the centre of attention. Lively and vivacious. Without Chris in her life, Annie would be better behaved and her life less fun. The two of them are like naughty schoolgirls.

ANNIE (50’s) Annie will join in the mischief but is at heart a conformist and less confrontational than Chris. The mischief that Chris elicits saves Annie from being a saint. Annie will pour oil on troubled waters but she has enough edge to be interesting and enough salt not to be too sweet. She mourns the loss of her husband John.

CORA (45/50’s) Cora’s past is the most eclectic; her horizons were broadened by going to college. This causes a tectonic shift with her more parochial parents. She comes back to Yorkshire pregnant with her tail between her legs, but Cora has too much resilience to be downtrodden. She is the joker in the pack but never plays the fool; her wit is deadpan. It raises laughter in others, but rarely in herself. Her relationship with her daughter is more akin to that between Chris and Annie. Cora doesn’t need to sing like a Diva but must be able to sing well enough to start the show with Jerusalem and sing snatches of other songs when required.

JESSIE (late 60’s/70’s) Get on the right side of Jessie as a teacher and she’ll be the teacher you remember for life. Get on her wrong side and you will regret every working hour. A lover of life, Jessie doesn’t bother with cosmetics – her elixir of life is bravery. Her husband has been with her a long time and is rarely surprised by her actions; Jessie goes on rollercoasters. Jessie bothers with grammar and will correct stall holders regarding their abuse of the apostrophe.

CELIA (35-45) The fact that Celia is in the WI is the greatest justification for its existence. A very glamorous woman more at home in department stores than in a church hall, she looks as if she has drifted in from another world. She is particularly enamoured with Jessie despite the fact that Jessie has very little time for the Celia’s of this world; there is a rebelliousness in Celia to which Jessie responds. It is what sets Celia apart from the vapid materialism of her peer group and made her defect from that group.

RUTH (45-50’s) Ruth’s journey is from the false self confidence of the emotionally abused to the genuine self confidence of a woman who is at last happy in her own skin. Ruth is very eager to please but not a rag doll. Despite being Marie’s right hand woman she is desperate to be the cartilage in the spine of the WI – and keep everybody happy. She has spine herself; if she were wet no-one would want her around. But they do, and they feel protective of her because they sense there is something better in Ruth than life is letting her be. They are proved right; at first it is whatever her dominant husband Eddie wants – in the end she breaks away from his influence.

MARIE (50’s) Over the years Marie has built her current persona as a defence mechanism. She went to find her OZ – Cheshire – and found they didn’t want her. She came back scorched and scarred. The WI is a trophy to her which justifies her whole existence. There is a lingering part of Marie that would love to be on that calendar. Bossy and controlling she likes to boast to boost her low self-esteem.

LADY CAVENDISH Lady Cavendish doesn’t mean to be so patronising but the WI girls seem to her to come from another world – the world of her estate workers. When she makes an entrance she must make an entrance! She is dressed to outplay the others and glides in like a stately galleon. Very upper class.

JOHN (50’s – ANNIE’S HUSBAND) John is a human sunflower. Not a saint, not a hero. Just the kind of man you would want in your car when crossing America. When he dies it feels like someone has turned the light off.

ROD (50’s – CHRIS’S HUSBAND) You have to be a certain kind of guy to stick with Chris and Rod loves it. He gives back what he gets and has a deadpan humour which has always made Chris laugh. He drinks a lot but never so much as to have a problem. He would work every hour to make his shop a success. John was his mate even though the relationship was originally channelled through their wives

LAWRENCE (30’s) Hesitant, without being nerdy. Lawrence is a shy young man with enough wit to make a joke and enough spirit to turn up at the WI hall in the first place. When he arranges the shots he is close to female nudity but sees only the photos.

ELAINE A beautician. She doesn’t mean to be so patronising but Jessie seems to be from another planet which her Gran inhabits. Her clinical white uniform and well made up face express the modern world she lives in.

LIAM He would like to be directing something other than the advert for washing powder. He is not, however, so unprofessional as to let it show. We can sense a certain weariness at having to deal with WI ladies. There is a resigned patience to his actions and each smile he makes is professional. For Liam, the photo shoot is a job-and not the job he wanted.