October 2012 - Calendar Girls

The pictures might be a bit cheeky but a Sheffield drama group is hoping it hasn’t boobed with its latest production.

Tudor Players is one of more than 500 societies across the world which are set to stage Calendar Girls after am-dram rights for the hit show were released for a limited period.

The Star has already reported how different groups in South Yorkshire are kicking off their kit to perform the play. Among them are Stannington Players and Barnsley’s L S Theatre Productions.

But the Attercliffe-based Tudors are going one step further than most with eight actresses stripping off for an actual calendar too.

“It’s a bit like art copying life,” says publicity officer, professional actor and occasional director Roger Bingham. “The original film and stage show was based on a real-life tale about how members of the Rylstone and District Women’s Institute shot a naked calendar to raise money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research charity.

“So we thought it made sense to do the calendar as well as the play, and raise some money for the same good cause.” Which, of course, is easy for him to say. He’s not the one flashing his flesh to the world. Partner Pam Bush is, though.

“Were we apprehensive?” considers the 62-year-old. “Of course. This is unlike anything any of us have done before. But the photographer is a member of the group and he made us feel comfortable and it’s tastefully done and, of course, it’s for a good cause.”

The subjects range in age from their mid 30s to a proud 74-year-old. That’s Carolyn Heslop who was actually one of the founding members of the Tudor Players back in 1967.

“I definitely never thought I’d be doing anything like this back then,” says the grandmother-of-one from Dore. “There have been a few raised eyebrows but it’s a lovely story.”

There’s a small twist to the calendar too: each month’s picture is based on a popular am-dram production.

So February is The Winter’s Tale with the stars standing in snow (“computer-generated,” says Roger, “it would have been a bit chilly otherwise”); July is The Garden Party; October is The Memory Of Water and December, naturally, is Season’s Greetings. Each is shot in black and white with a single splash of colour.

“I have to say this, of course but it looks great,” says Roger, 66, who lives with Pam in Ranmoor. “We’ve had a print run of 150 to start with and we’re hoping they sell out. I think, in the end, the girls really quite enjoyed doing it.” 

Director Phil Gascoyne makes an immediate impact as the audience are plunged into darkness simulating a deep coalmine with all the accompanying whirrs and hums. We are introduced to the main characters Phil, Jim, Harry and Andy who arrive on stage with overalls, helmets and lights. The Stannington Brass Band then strikes up a rousing rendition of Death or Glory.

The play is set in 1994, a couple of years after Heseltine’s pit closure scheme and a good decade on from Scargill’s Miner’s Strikes. Money is tight but the men are kept sane by boozing and playing in The Grimley Brass Band whilst their wives tackle screaming children or conduct pit closure protests. The play is funny but with serious social and political messages. The standout performance is from Kevin Cheeseright. I was misty-eyed when he made his final speech regarding the destructive Tory government. He perfectly captured Pete Postlethwaite’s repertoire from the film. It was all the more poignant given the great man’s demise last year.

Fran Larkin is on good form as Sandra, a young mother struggling with debt. Stuart Rooker puts in a measured performance as ladies’ man Andy. Dominic Stevenson at only 15 is confident as Sandra’s eldest Shane, although it’s a bit of a stretch to believe he is nine! Good use was made of a large projection-screen. In particular, there are some amusing photos of the band (plus supporters) on their way to the Albert Hall.

Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of John Buchan’s book lampoons the serious Hitchcock film of the same name.

In director Ian G Walker’s hands, Tudor Players make it a very, very funny play.

Our hero Richard Hannay, is played expertly by a dapper John Moran, complete with immaculate hair, pipe and the obligatory pencil moustache. He spends most of the play running from the police and foreign spies for a murder he did not commit.

Hansel D’Roza and his set team have their work cut out as the characters appear in no less than fourteen locations including the Forth Bridge and the London Palladium.

The script is good and Moran’s deliberately underwhelming, stiff upper lip deliveries are amusing. It is the inventiveness of the cast using props however, which is the most fun. John Fereday and Phil Gascoyne for example, who play multiple parts, have a great train station scene. Fereday flips back and forth between station announcer and passenger using hats whilst Gascoyne does the same between passenger and newspaper seller. Moran provides special effects by flapping his own coat when simulating running on top of a train. A lot of the clever prop manipulation is down to intricate timing helped by choreographer Aggie Gryszel.

We even get the biplane chase from the film as a computerised outline of Hannay is projected onto a screen followed by a similarly simple plane image.

Emma O’Neill only manages three parts but enjoys stretching her accent repertoire with an 'Allo 'Allo German, Scottish and accurate plum English.