Kilkenny cast to star in hit comedy – Calendar Girls at the Watergate
The shows runs at the Watergate from July 22 to 15
Calendar Girls recently held their launch evening at the Watergate Theatre and is was a wonderful gathering filled with sunflowers, buns and boundless positivity!
The team at the Watergate Theatre thanked everyone who joined them for the launch of Calendar Girls by Tim Firth. It was a joy to bring together cast, crew, customers and friends of the Watergate to celebrate this fabulous production.
“We look forward to bringing the spirit of this inspiring and uplifting story to life on the Watergate stage in July. Due to popular demand, we are delighted to announce that an extra date has been added on July 22,” said Executive Director of the Watergate Theatre, Joanna Cunningham.
Calendar Girls will run from July 22 to 25 at 8pm at the Watergate Theatre .
Directed by Christine Scarry, and with a talented cast of 14 performers, this fresh staging promises laughter, tears and a heartfelt celebration of friendship, community, and courage.
The cast consists of Chris (Claire Henriques), Annie (Dee Gibney), Ruth (Nancy Rochford Flynn), Jessie (Paula Drohan), Celia (Sarah Brennan), Cora (Sophie Blaney Parslow), Marie (Kevina Hayes), John (Fergal Millar), Rod (Peter Madden), Lawrence (Owen Finnegan), Liam (Ben Nunan), Brenda (Maeve Tierney), Lady Cravenshire (Mary O’ Brien) and Elaine (Katherine Hession).
The production includes set-design by John O’ Donoghue, lighting design by Colm Eaton and the production management and stage management skills of Sarah Brennan and Nicola Brennan.
Rehearsals are well underway and tickets are selling fast. Visit watergatetheatre.com or call the box office on 056 7761674 to secure yours now.
For the 2026 production, Watergate Theatre has teamed up with Cois Nore to give customers the option to support Cois Nore by making a donation of any amount when completing their booking.
Calendar Girls tells the story of when Annie’s husband John dies of leukemia, 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 Women’s Institute members to pose nude with them for a 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 newfound fame.
Calendar Girls is a 2003 comedy film directed by Nigel Cole and is based on a true story of a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women.
The film stars an ensemble cast headed by Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, with Linda Bassett, Annette Crosbie, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton, Geraldine James, Harriet Thorpe and Philip Glenister playing key supporting roles.
Calendar Girls premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and was later shown at Filmfest Hamburg, the Dinard Festival of British Cinema in France, the Warsaw Film Festival, the Tokyo International Film Festival and the UK Film Festival in Hong Kong.
The film garnered generally positive reactions by film critics, who compared it with another British comedy film The Full Monty (1997). At a budget of $10 million it also became a major commercial success, eventually grossing $93.4 million worldwide following its theatrical release in the U.S. In addition, the picture was awarded the British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Film, and received ALFS Award, Empire Award and Satellite Award nominations for Mirren and Walters, and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Mirren.
Early booking is advisable for the highly-anticpated production of Calendar Girls at the Watergate Theatre.