Calendar Girls - The Review
Huge thanks to Sofia Lewis of Love Shrewsbury for this fabulous review of our opening night:
Walker Theatre - 15th April- 18th April 2026
It didn’t take long for one to feel the excited buzz that came from the packed Walker Theatre auditorium at Theatre Severn this evening. Shrewsbury Musical Theatre were back with us with the show, “Calendar Girls,” following their successful presentation of Spamalot last year, it would appear they have been sorely missed by fans but my; haven’t they been busy?
Calendar Girls is a fairly, typically British bit of whimsy. Telling the story of nudity, acceptance, self-discovery, and realisation, and the Women’s Institute. One sees that there’s a warmth that we as Brits recognise within ourselves. This show is as British as the stripe in an Everton mint, and it might be argued that the British can and do laugh at their own foibles, and we all see little bits of all of us peppered throughout the text.
So how did SMTC. deal with such a demanding workload? The simple answer is very well. I found the attention to detail in characterisation very pleasing and director, Lynne Carney has found the rib tickling lines and brought the best out the text and out of her cast. This displays that there is a deep understanding between the playwright and director. Good directors especially in pro/am theatre, vary greatly in skill vision and ability. There was no doubt Ms. Carney had a very real hold of the script and brought out the absolute best it had to offer.
The cast were all equally marvellous. Again there was an abundance of stella performances, too many to mention, Jilli Gray proving to be a great asset to the company her portrayal of Celia was thoroughly enjoyable as Ms. Gray introduced that little demons that we have all seen, or all know. A naughty but nice, a cheeky but not so rude sort of person! Great work. One was deeply impressed with Martha Fleet’s performance of Jenny. She was deeply immersed into character and was great to watch as she fully understands that acting is also about reacting. Even if she wasn’t the principal focus of a particular scene her presence was noticeable and one suspects that she may have what it takes to go all the way to the top. And why not? This is a talented cast. Adam Randles was a very noticeable presence on stage too and his portrayal of Lawrence was really very good. His role in the final shoot of the girls for the calendar was really, very good. He found just the right balance between a shy guy who was called on to do a very risqué photo shoot for the calendar. He found a real palpable feeling of awkwardness which worked exceptionally well. Another tip for the top, were he keen on going that way into further exploring living and working within the arts.
Natalie Smith as Annie and Heidi Brown as Chris both handed in some great work and really found the pathos and drama boiling under in their characters’ lives; on an seemingly constant level of excellence. But all performances were very skilful and as I often say, no one on that stage stole their place. There is just so much work that goes in to producing a show of this calibre one has to rely heavily on the cast to find the timing and drama. No issues on that score they all turned up on the night packing their best game faces ready to make a good job of this show. This they did.
Technically there was a couple of slips but nothing major just a couple of slow lighting cue executions and the same once or twice with the head mics too. The role of the technician is such a huge job there is so much happening in the box, there are lighting cues and sound cues that all have to be hit on the mark. Tonight they were 99% there tomorrow it will be 100%. Great work in the lighting and soundbox altogether though and one can only imagine they are a close working team. It shows and they are good.
Consistently SMTC bring highly polished and very well performed shows into the amateur arena and long may they strive to do so. The level of skill, dedication, talent and commitment needed to make a show this size, work out; is herculean. More power to their elbow as a company and long may they go on pleasing Shrewsbury audiences for years to come.
This is a Four-Star review.
Sofia Lewis