Calendar Girls by Tim Firth

Bristol Hippodrome,

until Saturday May 12

Call 0844 8713012 to book

At times you almost feel guilty laughing cancer in the face, but in Calendar Girls you are encouraged to do just that.

This true story of a group of Yorkshire WI women begins when Annie's (Jan Harvey) husband John is diagnosed with lymphoma. After enduring a back-breaking, old sofa in the relatives' room of the cancer unit at Skipton General, Annie and her friend Chris (Lynda Bellingham) decide to raise enough money to replace the sofa in honour of John. Their idea is to pose nude for an alternative Women’s Institute calendar.

The ladies finally manage to persuade 11 friends to go along with the plan and, after plenty of alcohol for Dutch courage, the risqué calendar is made, much to the annoyance of WI leader Marie (Ruth Madoc), who is out to make things as awkward as possible.

The exploration of the hang-ups most women have about themselves is hilarious and acted brilliantly. Fat, thin, big boobs, no boobs... the audience were in fits of laughter as we all recognised elements of ourselves.

The ridiculous ideas the women come up with to hide their embarrassment are superb - the alcohol involved just makes them funnier, not to mention braver than they every could have imagined.

Ultimately, the ladies of the Skipton WI battle red tape from the stuffy head office and win the day. Their heart-renching speech about how this terrible disease affects everyone, brought a lump to all of our throats. The emotion could be felt around the auditorium.

I could mention everyone in the brilliant cast, but to be honest it was their connection as a whole which provided us with non-stop laughter, mixed with sadness. The actors are fantastically brave to bare all for the sake of entertainment, but it's all in a good cause - so far, this famous WI calendar has raised more than £3 million pounds.

- PAULINE COLE