The 2003 film of the same name brought to the main stream attention the story of a group of Yorkshire women who produced a calendar to raise money for cancer research. The reason it generated so much interest was the fact that these ordinary middle-aged non-model women posed naked for the calendar! The film has many awards … I’ve never seen it but I’m really hoping the film was more engaging than the stage production.

That’s right – I was a little bored by the play. I thought I was being a little insensitive to the subject matter but apparently I wasn’t the only one that thought that – all of us who saw it tonight agreed!

However that’s not to take away from any of the actresses (including Jerry Hall, Jill Halfpenny, Jill Baker, Anita Dobson, Sara Crowe, June Brown and Gemma Atkinson in tonight’s incarnation) and actors on stage. Lines were beautifully delivered, characterisations were spot on and the posing for the calendar was handled very professionally. I just can’t understand what it was about the play that failed to engage me – maybe it was just too sad and sentimental? I think it was wondering throughout the whole production how the on-stage presentation differed from the movie and also thinking why did they bother?