Stage Adaptation of 'Calendar Girls' Comes to Audi

CONCORD, NH - The Community Players of Concord presents ”Calendar Girls,” by Tim Firth at the Concord City Auditorium on Feb. 12, 13, and 14.

“Calendar Girls” is a stage adaptation of the Golden Globe-nominated film starring Helen Mirren, based on the inspiring true story of a group of women from an ordinary English village who persuade one another to pose nude for an “alternative” charity calendar to raise funds for the local hospital in honor of the late husband of one of their own.

Their calendar is wildly successful and hordes of press soon descend on their little village, but the group’s new-found fame strains the bonds of family and friendship that the calendar was meant to celebrate. Performances will be staged at the Concord City Auditorium (“the Audi”), 2 Prince St. in Concord on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12 and 13, at 7:30 p.m., and on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $18/$16 each, though tickets purchased on-line prior to February 10 receive a $2 per ticket discount. The Audi Box Office hours are Wednesday - Friday, Feb. 10, to Feb. 12, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 13, noon-7 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 14, noon to 2 p.m. Online ticketing and further information may be found at communityplayersofconcord.org.

“Calendar Girls” is set in Yorkshire, England, where Annie, her best friend Chris, and other friends -- all “women of a certain age” -- gather for the monthly, local chapter meetings of the “Women’s Institute” or “WI,” a women’s community organization. Chapter meetings traditionally involve a speaker, demonstration, or activity, focusing on topics such as cooking, crafts, gardening, local history, and the like. After Annie’s beloved husband, John, dies of leukemia, Chris suggests that the group raise funds in John’s honor by posing nude for a calendar. The women of the WI, accustomed to producing bland annual fund-raising calendars with themes such as vegetables or churches, need some convincing, but eventually many agree, and the calendar is made with the help of embarrassed hospital porter/amateur photographer, Lawrence. Marie, the chapter’s very traditional president, does not approve of the project. The women’s families need time to get used to the idea as well, especially after the calendar becomes the subject of national and international press attention.

The play is poignant, funny, and yes, involves a number of local actresses appearing nude on stage with a variety of props and set pieces artfully arranged, which maintains the show’s “PG” rating. But audiences will soon appreciate that the point of the show is less the novel idea of the calendar (and the novelty of local actresses appearing nude on stage), and more about the characters whose friendship, determination and bravery are the story’s heart. Unlike the movie version of the story, which portrayed the characters with only broad brush strokes, the stage adaptation allows the audience to become immersed in the characters’ personalities and backstories.

Director Steve Lajoie observes that in the play, “we learn of their sorrows, joys, challenges, and regrets.”

“We come to care about them, to root for them, to admire their resiliency and their strength,” says LaJoie.

As the story progresses, the audience will also come to understand why the play’s signature image is a sunflower, as Annie’s husband, John, writes, “I don’t think there’s anything on this planet that more trumpets life than the sunflower . . . During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky . . . Whatever light, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it. And that’s such an admirable thing. And such a lesson in life.”

Audiences will find that “Calendar Girls,” an uplifting, heart-warming story featuring sunflowers and a group of wonderful women friends, is just right for a February weekend in NH.