REVIEW
Calendar Girls” will put you on a rollercoaster ride filled with emotions that will make you laugh one moment and cry the next, and it leaves you with a smile and a lighter heart by the time you walk out of the theater.
Beaumont Community Players’ production of Tim Firth’s play, which runs through Nov. 10, brilliantly directed by Gina Hinson, is a must-see comedy.
The play is based on a true story, set in 1999 in Yorkshire, England, when the ladies of the Women’s Institute pose nude for an “alternative” calendar to raise money for the Leukemia Research Fund, after Annie’s (Roxane Gray) husband, John (Phillip Gray), dies of leukemia.
Annie and Chris (Ramona Young) come up with a genius idea for a fundraising calendar in order to purchase a new settee for the local hospital’s cancer wing.
Annie and Chris in BCP’s production of ‘Calendar Girls.’
Young plays the witty Chris exceptionally well, supplying humorous quips that tickle the audience’s funny bone, while Gray’s Annie brings the audience to tears as she deals with her grief.
Annie and Chris manage to persuade their WI group members, Cora (Heather Rushing), Jessie (Alicia Strahan), Celia (Bryanne Tyler) and Ruth (Karen Chapman) to participate in their scandalous idea. The women hesitate at first, but end up going through with the idea.
Ruth, the bubbly yet conservative character, strongly refuses to participate in the calendar project because she’s afraid that if she strips off her clothes, then she will have to face her fears.
Eventually, Ruth, with the help of her friends, finds the courage to break out of her shell.
Chapman excels as she takes the audience on Ruth’s journey of self-growth, as her timid characteristics are transformed into a strong woman.
The unexpected and instantaneous success of the calendar puts the women’s small town of Knapeley on the international map.
Their quick rise to fame puts Annie and Chris’s friendship to the test as the newfound spotlight momentarily blinds them, and they steer off-course from the true purpose of why they made the calendar in the first place.
Each WI woman learns to embrace their natural aging female body in their own way, as they drop their clothes for a good cause. It’s empowering to see a celebration of women who come in all ages, shapes and sizes.
“Who knew the baring of bodies would lead to such revelations of spirit,” Hinson writes in their director’s note. “Together with my extraordinarily talented cast and crew, we have unlocked the potential of community theatre to make you think and make you feel.”
In the calendar scene, the direction provides just enough visual imagery to where the audience can use their imagination to fill in the blanks.
The ensemble works skillfully to put the audience in the story. Each of the “Calendar Girls” has their own unique backstory. Trahan, Rushing and Tyler find the nuance in their characters and are totally relatable as women.
Overall, the heartfelt comedy about friendship, self-growth, determination, female empowerment and hope leaves one feeling much better about life than before they stepped foot into the theater.
“Calendar Girls” is presented Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee Saturday at 2 p.m., and Nov. 8, 9 and 10, at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $23, $21 for seniors and students, and $12 for children.
BCP is located at the Betty Greenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 4155 Laurel in Beaumont.
For tickets, visit www.beaumontcommunityplayers.com.
Story by Vy Nguyen, UP staff writer