What Are You Working On? is for all things hand-made, home-made, and creative in a variety of mediums.
What I am currently working on is my role in Stage Coach Players' production of Calendar Girls. I have posted a few other diaries on DKos regarding my thespian endeavors, but this is the first time I have done so for WAYWO (although I have occasionally commented about it). The play is based on the 2003 British film about women from the Knapely, Yorkshire Women’s Institute posing for a nude calendar to raise money to buy a settee for the local hospital after one of their husbands dies of leukemia. This, in turn, was inspired by a true story where the women made the calendar to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Research, a major British cancer research institution.
When Annie’s husband John dies of leukaemia, she and 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. The news of the women’s charitable venture spreads like wildfire, and hordes of press soon descend on the small village of Knapeley in the Yorkshire Dales. The calendar is a success, but Chris and Annie’s friendship is put to the test under the strain of their new-found fame.
In this play, it is the women who take front stage, with the few male roles being more minor. I play the role of Rod Harper, Chris’ husband, who is something of a comic character, but also serves as a bit of conscience (which small comic roles often do in theater). This play mixes humor, character development, and some tear-jerking poignancy. Since my own mother, who lived in England (Kent, not Yorkshire) and was involved in theatre (Props Mistress for the Ramsgate Operatic Society) died of cancer 16 years ago, this play definitely touched me personally.
If any of you can make it to DeKalb, IL to see the play, I would be delighted to meet you!
So, What Are You Working On?