CityLife

Calendar Girls comes to The Lowry

Calendar Girls

ADVERTORIAL

FOLLOWING two sell out weeks at The Lowry, the record-breaking Calendar Girls returns to the north west in February 2010.

Tim Firth’s heart-warming stage adaptation of his smash hit film has become the fastest selling tour ever and has triumphed in the West End. Lynda Bellingham heads the cast once again but this time she’s bringing a brand new set of Calendar Girls with her including Gemma Atkinson, Judith Barker, Debbie Chazen, Letitia Dean and Jan Harvey.

When the ladies of Rylstone and District WI bared all for a charity calendar, little did they know that they would spark a global phenomenon. Now ten years on, their amazing story is brought brilliantly to life on stage.

CityLife talked to Lynda  Bellingham and asked why she thinks the show has struck such a chord with audiences.

"It celebrates the good side of human nature." she answers. "People at Stage Door tell us that they have laughed and they have cried in equal measure. In the play there is that wonderful juxtaposition between the tragedy of John's death and the laughter which is produced by the womens' attempts to do something to mark it."

Talking about the production, Lynda said “it’s very empowering, not just for us but for the audience as well. The original WI ladies didn’t pose because they looked sexy, they did it because they were brave. They did it to raise money and to celebrate life.”

Warrington born and bred author Tim Firth, had been mulling over revitisting Calendar Girls for some time.

Astonished

"I always promised myself that I'd start to think about a stage play of Calendar Girls once the film had been shown on television a couple of times." explains Tim. "I saw that turning Calendar Girls into a stage play would enable me to help certain parts of the story to flower."
 
Part of the art of writing a comedy is testing audience reaction, to determine where the laughs come. Nobody can be certain about this mysterious alchemy and Tim has been surprised by how the calendar photo-shoot scene in particular has gone down.
 
"It's been a real eye-opener" he says. "A scene we thought would last two minutes has in practice turned out to run for ten minutes!”
 
Tim has been delighted and astonished by the warmth of the audience response to the play.

"I have been absolutely amazed. I suppose that it's a hopeful piece in uncertain times and there's a real feelgood atmosphere during the performance. The cast tell me that they can often hear crying so the audience is experiencing both poles on the emotional spectrum.

"One of the play's arguments is that women who have been put out to grass are also potent, powerful, sexual beings. When the show was in Edinburgh, a man in the audience called out 'Good on you, lassie!' when Lynda Bellingham as Chris took off her shirt!”
 
Calendar Girls is at The Lowry from February 9 to 20, 2010. To book tickets call 0843 208 6007 or visit www.thelowry.com.