'Calendar Girls' at The Noel Coward Theatre

We went to see 'Calendar Girls' tonight, the play of the film of the calendar. One of the attractions for me was seeing Brigit Forsyth for the first time on stage - for me, Brigit will forever be Thelma from 'The Likely Lads' in the '70s, the social climbing wife and that's sort of her role in the play, as the leader of the local Women's Institute desperate to mingle with the gentry. Brigit 'putting on a posh voice' has served her well for decades and long may it do so! It must've been great seeing her play that part in Newcastle when the production toured.

Anyway, on my way to the theatre I stopped off in Trafalgar Square to see what was happening on the Fourth Plinth to be greeted by a woman with big placards saying things like 'Anthony Nolan says: Celebrate' and a group of people in the square doing as told. It was a promotion for the Anthony Nolan Trust and the people in the Square were either recipients or donors of bone marrow, since the Trust focuses on leukemia. That's a fun way of promoting a charity. I didn't realise it at the time but the reason for the 'girls' doing the calendar in the first place was that the husband of one of the WI members died of leukemia.

The play opens at a Women's Institute meeting in a made-up small town in the Yorkshire Dales with a group of good friends chatting and bored with the standard WI fare of speakers and cake-baking competitions. When the husband of the group dies of leukemia they decide to raise funding to buy a new sofa for the hospital waiting room, and they'll do this by being photographed naked for a calendar with standard WI fare strategically placed to avoid embarrassment.

The play tells the tale of how the calendar happened and what happened next, personal stories played out in public. It took us straight to the heart of Sentiment Central but, you know what? I didn't mind at all. It worked for me, the joy and sadness, the personal journeys and risks of the participants, the struggle against authority in the shape of Brigit (who, sadly, didn't get her kit off) and discovering the true nature of friendship. I laughed and cried along with them and loved every minute of it.

The cast were excellent. Sian Phillips was great as the retired school teacher and got some of the best laughs but I will always think of her as Livia from 'I Clavdivs'. Elaine C Smith and Gaynor Faye were a fab double act, rude and demure by turns and, of course, Brigit Forsyth had some great lines - I particularly liked her badminton scene with her exaggerated racket stroke that won every match (sort of). She's got great comic timing and knows when to pull her punch.

The main stars were, of course, Lynda Bellingham and Patricia Hodge who have developed a good on-stage presence as friends of 27 years standing. They are very believable and feed off each other nicely, Lynda being more blunt and out-spoken, with Patricia being a bit more thoughtful. Lynda is the first to take her top off (although you don't see anything naughty) and the first act closes with them all doing their photo-shoot.

The cast changes next week so it'll be interesting to hear how the new line-up works. A re-fresh helps most things, but I'm pleased I've seen this cast. Well done, girls!