The Review Issue One | Page 18

18 To place editorial email [email protected] Hit Play ‘Calendar Girls’ Raises £1,500 The award-winning Stewarton Drama Group recently brought the smash-hit play ‘Calendar Girls’ to Ayrshire and raised the grand total of £1,500 for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research in Scotland. The hit play was staged in the theatre in the Stewarton Area Centre from the 23rd-26th October to mark Stewarton Drama Group’s 40th Birthday. Based on a true story, the play follows a group of women, members of a very ordinary Women’s Institute, who sparked a global phenomenon by persuading one another to pose for a charity calendar with a difference. Interest snowballs, as it becomes clear that the ‘Calendar Girls’ are revealing a bit more than the usual pleasant pastures! This true story inspired the 2003 Hollywood film by Tim Firth, starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, which went to number one in the UK, becoming one of the most successful British films of all time, earning a place as one of the top 50 grossing films in UK cinema history. The professional run of the stage play of ‘Calendar Girls’ in the West End of London and the subsequent tour broke all box office records, becoming the fastest selling tour in UK theatre history with a glowing set of reviews from all over the country, and grossing more at the box office than the original film. The appeal of the play lies not only in the story, but also in the characters, the fun and the friendship which emerge triumphant at the end, in spite of the challenges, trials and loss which the women have to face. “A huge THANK YOU to all of you who came to see the play for your generosity in buying raffle tickets and contributing to the audience collection buckets. By doing so, you have raised this amazing sum for such an important charity in Scotland.” The Stewarton Drama Group “Fantastic performance by the Stewarton drama group, hard to believe that an amateur group can produce such a heart wrenching and thoroughly entertaining performance. Well done to the brave ladies who bared all!” Lorna Gibson, Audience Member