25th June 2025
Thame Players are delighted to announce that their next production, being held from 8th – 12th July, will be the much-acclaimed play Calendar Girls. It’s the story of a group of friends who attend a Yorkshire Women’s Institute and are inspired by a personal tragedy to pose for a charity calendar with a difference - no more photos of Wharfedale bridges or Norman churches for them!
Tim Firth’s hilarious play is based on the true story of eleven WI members who posed nude for a calendar to raise money for the Leukaemia Research Fund. It's stirring stuff and shows just what can be found in the wilds of the Yorkshire Dales…
When Annie's husband, John, dies of leukaemia, she and her best friend Chris resolve to raise money for a new settee in the local hospital waiting room. They manage to persuade four fellow WI members to pose nude with them for an ‘alternative’ calendar, with a little help from hospital porter and amateur photographer, Lawrence. Overcoming their initial reserve, the friends drop their dressing gowns to do their version of a glamour calendar, their modesty spared only by artfully placed cakes, knitting and flower arrangements. The success of the calendar goes beyond their wildest dreams, and they have soon raised the money needed and much more. Puzzling their husbands, mortifying their children, and riding the wrath of the outraged WI, they spark a global phenomenon.
News of their charitable venture spreads like wildfire, and hordes of press soon descend on the small village of Knapeley in the Yorkshire Dales. But as media interest snowballs, the Calendar Girls find themselves exposed in ways they’d never expected, revealing more than they’d ever planned.
Although the calendar is a huge success, Chris and Annie's friendship is put to the test with their new-found fame and Chris is forced to question her real motivation behind doing the calendar.
Calendar Girls first opened at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2008 and has since become the fastest-selling play in British theatre history.
Helen Sels, who is directing Calendar Girls for Thame Players, said ‘We couldn’t be more excited about bringing this fantastically successful comedy to the Players Theatre in Thame! It has been a joy to rehearse, with a splendid cast, and we know we are bringing theatregoers a real treat with this production. Tickets are selling fast, so you need to book yours soon – and don’t forget the Saturday matinee which we’ve added as a sixth show. Enjoy!’
This amateur production of Calendar Girls is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd on behalf of Samuel French Ltd www.concordtheatricals.co.uk
