Calendar Girls
directed by Penny Nash
Thurs.-Sat., June 2-18, 8:00 p.m.
The Davies Foundation Auditorium
52 Church St., Kingston, ON
Chris and Annie are middle-aged friends and members of the Women's Institute in their Yorkshire town. Though they spend lots of time at the Institute, they find it a bit stuffy.
When Annie's husband John dies of leukemia, Chris comes up with the idea of providing the local hospital with a new sofa for its visitors' room. She wants the Women's Institute to raise the money, but last year's calendar, featuring pictures of local bridges, raised less than a hundred pounds and the sofa will cost about 10 times that.
So Annie and Chris come up with an idea for a different sort of calendar—one featuring tasteful nude photographs of Women's Institute members. Needless to say, not all the members are sold on the idea.
Chris and Annie need to persuade 10 women besides themselves to pose for the calendar, and find a photographer they can all feel comfortable with. If they can do that, will the calendar sell?
Calendar Girls first appeared as a film, for which Tim Firth wrote the screenplay, in 2003. The play, adapted by Firth from the film, opened at the Chichester Festival Theatre in September 2008 and broke the all-time British box-office record during its 2008/09 tour, then continued to sell out in the West End, where it opened at the Noel Coward Theatre in April 2009. In 2010, the hit comedy embarked on a UK country-wide tour, one of the largest ever for a play. Calendar Girls is also a success across the globe.
Cast
Cora - Michelle Freedman
Chris - Lorna Jodoin
Annie - Naomi Greer-Ballance
Jessie - Renee O'Farrell
Celia - Rachel Kelleher
Ruth - Valerie Winslow
Marie - Katie Flower-Smith
Brenda - Cori Schroder
John - Bill Morrow
Rod - Robert McMahon
Lady Cravenshire - Cori Schroder
Lawrence - Dylan Chenier
Elaine - Laura Garofalo
Liam - Marin Fobert
Extras - Hayley Hudson, Angie Roberts, Heather Robinson-Dooreleyers
Production Crew
Producers - Rachel Kelleher, Martin Fobert
Director - Penny Nash
Assistant Director - Lisa Flanagan
Stage Manager - Marion Savage
Assistant Stage Manager - Carolyn Burley
Set Design & Dressing - Liz Schell
Lighting Design - David L Smith
Sound Design - Sara Beck
Costume Design - Rachel Vandenberg, Loren Smith
Makeup Consultant - Kyra Dye
Properties - Elaine Otter, Diane Clark
Chief Carpenter - Bob Brooks
Lighting Operator - Alexandra Cooper
Sound Operator - James Leslie, James Gow
Set Construction - Bob Brooks, Grant Buckler, John Corrigan, Dave Oliver
Set Painting - Liz Schell, Marion Savage, Carolyn Burley, Penny Nash
Lobby Photography - Claudia Wade
Archival Photography - Grant Buckler
Poster Design - Katie Flower-Smith
Lobby Art Curator - Karen Peperkorn
Front of House Coordinator - Steve Powell