Calendar Girls

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http://www.huntershilltheatre.com.au

Date Reviewed: 16/11/2018

Offering a comedic escape to the British Isles, Calendar Girls is now playing at Hunters Hill Theatre until 25th November. Written as a tribute to the true story of The Calendar Girls, this cheeky modern play has been crafted beautifully by Director Christopher Hamilton. 

Calendar girls recounts the true story of a group of ladies in a small town Women’s Institute who strip down for the creation of a calendar. With the conservative goal to raise enough to purchase a new sette for the local hospital, it quickly becomes apparent that their calendar will go far beyond, attracting media attention worldwide. And yet, as the world pushes in to the lives of these female friends, our heroines find themselves being pushed apart from one another. At its core, Calendar Girls is a warm and comedic tale of love, friendship and persistence. 

The cast of 12 was all around spectacular and the true diversity of actresses in this production make each scene incredibly refreshing and every audience member will no doubt find their favourite women’s institute personality. Special mentions are deserved to our main ladies; Liz Grindley as the fierce and passionate Chris, and Anna Desjardins as the quiet, grieving but certainly not saintly Annie. Their chemistry as friends with a long history was phenomenal and led to their scenes feeling deep and authentic. 

As always, Hunters Hill Theatre did a wonderful job with lighting which elevated the realism of the production. Likewise the props were phenomenal and some were quite remarkable, such as in one scene a true Tesco plastic bag being used when discussing a large British supermarket invading the town. Calendar Girls no doubt has some of the most carefully considering scene setting ever created in a community theatre production which it deserves credit for. With each of the main cast members having to be nude at one point or another in this play, I can only imagine how painstaking the mammoth process of prop placement was, to ensure at every angle the audience was not ‘exposed’. 

Calendar Girls is a wonderfully lighthearted production which deals with incredibly powerful themes in a delicate and well considered manner. Hunters Hill has produced the play fantastically and will leave any audience smiling as they leave the theatre. 

Review written by Cassie Cheeseman

Photos by Grant Fraser