May 16, 2013
The South Burnett Regional Council will be bringing the Australian stage production of “Calendar Girls” to the South Burnett next year.
“Calendar Girls” is based on the true story of a group of Yorkshire women who produced a nude calendar in 1999 to raise money for leukaemia research.
The 2003 film of the same name starred Helen Mirren and Julie Walters in the leading roles.
The Australian stage version is being produced by Jally Entertainment who brought the play “Steaming” to the region in August 2010.
Despite is subject matter, Calendar Girls is a comedy.
The stage play differs slightly from the film by focusing on exploring the dynamics of a small town chapter of the Women’s Institute, an English women’s group much like the CWA.
It follows what happens when the husband of one of the members is diagnosed with cancer, and her determination to do something meaningful in his memory when he dies.
As the plot progresses, the action touches on the individual stories of the widow’s friends.
The audience catches glimpses of the losses in each of their lives: the uptight group leader, the golf widow, the young woman with the womanising husband, the unsuccessful businesswoman and the retired school teacher.
All this is revealed as a daring plan is hatched to produce a calendar in the hope of raising enough money to buy a comfortable couch for the oncology ward’s waiting room.
The show features a cast of 12 and has already played to packed audiences in Redcliffe, Gympie and Noosa, as well as a sold-out show at the 520-seat Redlands Performing Arts Centre.
Announcing the decision to bring the production to the South Burnett in either April pr May next year, Cr Cheryl Dalton told Cr Barry Green today that, unlike “Steaming”, there would be no on-stage nudity this time around.
Cr Green – who told Council back in 2010 he had “never been offended by a naked woman” – said he was looking forward to the show, anyway.
[Photo: Jally Entertainment]
