Only one more day until the ladies of Calendar Girls bare–well, almost bare–it all on their official opening night! Leading up the triumphant moment, we sat down to chat with director Rachel Ditor about staging the “less clothed” scenes and how women compare to sunflowers. You’ll also get a first peek below at shots from the show!
The cast of Calendar Girls. Photo by David Cooper.
Have you seen the film Calendar Girls? Do you think an audience will expect a great deal of similarity between the film and the play? As the director, how will you differentiate the play from the film?
A: I have seen the film and I loved it. The two mediums are so different and the script for the play takes that into consideration. For example, there are far fewer locations in the play than there are in the film, which cuts down on transitions. And the play features monologues for each of the characters. In film you can always do a close-up to get a sense of a character’s private feelings. You can’t do close-ups in theatre, so the script has created other opportunities for the audience to get to know the women.
Q: How do you negotiate between the tragic undertones of the play and its many lighter moments?
A: Plays that require this balance are always challenging, and I’ve found that rehearsing for the truth rather than for laughs keeps the play grounded in real people and honest reactions to situations. Once we’re in previews the audience helps tell us what’s funny by their responses. At that stage in the process we’re ready for that information; in fact we need it to help us finish shaping the play.
Q: Our society can treat aging women in a dismissive way. Does Calendar Girls present an opportunity to question this view?
A: Absolutely. There’s a great line in the play where the women are likened to flowers where “the last phase is always the most glorious.” There’s no question that what the women accomplish publicly and overcome in their private lives really speaks to the strength that comes with age and experience. What’s really beautiful is their bravery, their willingness to shake up their lives and take risks, and the rewards that come back to them, and others in their lives.
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