Calendar Girls the Musical – Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough

Writers: Gary Barlow and Tim Firth

Director: Paul Robinson

Calendar Girls is a phenomenon in real life, on film and on stage. The death of John Baker from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Rylstone in the 1990s prompted his wife and other members of the Women’s Institute (WI) to pose naked, but engaged in their ordinary pursuits, for a calendar that became a world-wide sensation and raised huge sums of money for Blood Cancer UK.

Then followed the film (script by Tim Firth) and, ultimately, the musical which continues to charm audiences in different productions. Essentially the story is the same, set in the fictional Dales village of Knapely. The first act begins sunnily, with morning in Knapely, but Annie’s husband John’s health declines during a first half that features Christmas and a Spring Fair. A subplot dwells on Marie’s attempted takeover of the WI – a new arrival from Cheshire, she is accustomed to a posher way of doing things. By the interval John (played sympathetically by Neil Moors) is dead, the sunflower emerges as his symbol and Annie’s friend Chris comes up with the amazing idea.

The second half builds up to the great reveal, wittily done and greeted with huge enthusiasm by the audience: different members of the WI photographed, their modesty covered by everyday objects. Before that the opposition of Marie (Sarah Groarke) has had to be overcome and assorted institute members have dwelt amusingly on their own little secrets: Celia (Pippa Duffy) on cosmetic enhancement in So I’ve Had a Little Work Done and Ruth (Annie Kirkman) on the pleasures of vodka in My Russian Friend and I. It’s fair to say that the second half songs are much stronger than the first (Sunflower excepted).

This production is scheduled to tour three more theatres, only one of which will stage it in the conventional format. Paul Robinson’s manipulation of the in-the-round treatment is exemplary, preserving a continuous flow from one scene to the next. So, too, is the musical performance. Many of Gary Barlow’s songs are part-spoken and the cast slide gracefully from dialogue to rhythmic speech to song. Even better is the instrumental performance. The “Yorkshire” element in the text may sometimes sound a bit like a television commercial, but it serves as a prompt to the hints of brass band music. The cast, with Alex Weatherhill on piano, perform wonders on such instruments as trumpet, trombone and euphonium.

The acting suffers to some extent from Firth’s broad-brush approach to characterisation, but the comedy is there in all the performances. Karen Holmes’ broad characterisation of Chris and Christina Meehan’s subtler Annie are at the centre of things, but all the performances are vivid – and musically outstanding. Most impressive are the members of the SJT Young Company who play the offspring of Chris and Marie: Will Ireland and Robyn Chambers confirm the good impression of their performances in the Young Company’s Woyzeck, technically accomplished and perfectly natural.

Runs until 25 July 2026, then tours