Calendar Girls: Uneven characterization causes jerkiness, but show receives warm welcome on opening night

Calendar Girls

By Tim Firth

Kanata Theatre

Directed by Tania Carrière

Any production of Calendar Girls presents special challenges. The storyline, a slightly fictionalized version of true events at a Women’s Institute in northern England, is the basis of a 2003 movie starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters. It is so well known, that there is little room for any surprises on stage. In addition, the concept — a group of mature women posing discreetly nude behind some protective covering to raise funds for charity — has since been adopted and adapted for numerous assorted fundraising ventures (including at least two in the Ottawa area).

Although the flash of bare flesh on stage for each of the six women who drop their robes for a few seconds is not the main focus of Calendar Girls, it is often the point of concentration of pre-show publicity and audience awareness. The main goal of the script is to focus on the bonding and friendship among the group. But because the key photography/nude scene closes the first act, director and cast are likely to have difficulty in maintaining momentum through Act II. The attempts to fill in the women’s back-stories have limited success and the falling out between the two women behind the calendar project is too under-written to be entirely credible.

The additional challenge for Kanata Theatre and director Tania Carrière is that their production of Calendar Girls follows hot on the heels of last month’s Ottawa Little Theatre production, thereby inviting direct comparison between the two shows. (Apparently, the rights were given to both companies in the same season because U.S. publisher Samuel French is unfamiliar with Canadian geography and the relatively short distance between downtown Ottawa and Kanata.)

Features of the Kanata production that work well include such touches as projecting a filmstrip of the women being photographed above their heads as the camera flashes and adding cast members to enlarge the W.I. group and do double duty in scene changing to help the show flow more smoothly.

There are particularly strong performances from Bev Brooks as Annie, the widow of John (Frank Sasin) whose death is the catalyst for the fundraising project, and Sarah Hearn as Cora, the tough-talking vicar’s daughter. In general, the six who are to appear in the calendar are effective in demonstrating the increased bond that grows through the project.

However, despite some strong sections, particularly through the photography sequence, a slow opening scene and some unevenness in characterizations and performances cause periodic jerkiness through the show.

Nevertheless, the opening night audience greeted Kanata Theatre’s Calendar Girls with great enthusiasm and heavy ticket sales may lead to a run extension.

The Kanata Theatre production of Calendar Girls currently continues to May 21.

Set: Tania Carrière, Joe Cooke, Tom Kobolak

Sound: Robert Fairbairn

Lighting: Ron Francis

Costumes: Maxine Ball

Cast:

Cora………………………………………………Sarah Hearn

Chris………………………………………………Melissa McCallum

Jessie………………………………………………Catherine Clark

Celia……………………………………………….Lorraine McInnis

Ruth………………………………………………..Karen Germundson

Annie………………………………………………Bev Brooks

Marie……………………………………………….Ilona Henkelman

Brenda Hulse/Lady Cravenshire/Elaine……………Veronica Engelberts/Marla Israel

John………………………………………………….Frank Sasin

Rod………………………………………………….Michael Kennedy

Lawrence……………………………………………Chris Ray

Liam…………………………………………………James Renaud

WI ladies……………………………..Barbara Carrière, Kathryn Clarke, Sandy Wynne