Calender Girls - Fabulous Concealment

I think the painting activity was really to keep the cast quiet but the stated aim was to produce some Sunday school style pictures to decorate the church hall set of Calender Girls.

The other craft activity the cast and crew have been involved in is varnishing sticky buns. The play calls for a big pile of buns and buying real ones could prove expensive. Instead they bought some cheap bread buns, varnished them so they keep better and then covered them with icing, using a glue gun for the shiny sugar look.

Good enough to eat?

The pile of buns is used for 'fabulous concealment' the phrase used to describe the scenes depicting the photo shoot for the calender. Although all the ladies are naked, various items are used to ensure that their modesty is maintained at all times.

Director Aidan Moran described how he built up the confidence of the cast in playing these scenes by starting off with them fully clothed, moving on to dressing gowns and then underwear before being fully undressed. Stage manger Emma Walsh protects the actors privacy during rehearsals by ensuring that doors are not left open and no stray men accidentally wander in. Assistant director Shi Sur took on the job of checking from various points of the auditorium that nothing could be seen that shouldn't be.

The amateur rights to perform Calender Girls have been released for the first time this year in an attempt to establish the record for the highest number of productions of one play in a single year. A percentage of the performance fees paid by each theatre is going to Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. To raise more money Aidan has photographed and had printed calenders showing members of the cast in various theatre situations employing the same fabulous concealment technique used in the WI calender. This calendar had been made jointly with the cast of Woodley Theatre who are performing Calender Girls later in September. Copies of the  calendar will be available for sale.

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Coming up -

Calendar Girls by Tim Firth, 13th - 22nd September 2012, Progress Theatre

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead by Tom Stoppard 15th - 20th October 2012, Progress Theatre

7th Annual Write Fest 14 - 17 November 2012, Progress Theatre

Details of all our productions and auditions can be found on our website.

Calender Girls, Sunflowers and Pianos

The question I wanted to ask when I went to a Calendar Girls rehearsal was 'what is it with the sunflowers?' The poster features a sunflower and I'd heard that the rehearsals had started in June with a party where sunflowers seeds were planted outside the theatre.
Chris Moran, who is one of the calendar girls in the play, took me to see the sunflowers they planted and explained the significance of them. The plot of Calendar Girls centres around a WI member raising money for Leukaemia research by creating a nude calendar following the death of her husband. The husband's favourite flowers were sunflowers and he writes a talk for the WI about sunflowers where he compares them to Yorkshire women.

 The first read through of Calendar Girls doubled as a WI style tea party (yes there was cake!) and the cast and crew all planted a sunflower at the back of the carpark.

As you can see from the photo the sunflowers have come on a long way since June and fingers crossed they will be in full bloom in time for opening night. Look out for them when you come to see the show.

Tickets are selling fast, more than half are sold already so if you want to come and see this popular play then book your seats soon - there are unlikely to be any for sale on the door.

If you are interested in what goes on at Progress Theatre then sign up to this blog. Enter your email in the box under ‘about us’ and click on subscribe. New postings are made weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails.

Coming up -

Calendar Girls by Tim Firth, 13th - 22nd September 2012, Progress Theatre

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead by Tom Stoppard 15th - 20th October 2012, Progress Theatre

Details of all our productions and auditions can be found on our website.