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Yellow Point Drama Group tackles ambitious 'Calendar Girls'

Popular play promises to be a crowd pleaser

Armando Dos Santos has been directing theatre for more than three decades, but the upcoming production of Calendar Girls with the Yellow Point Drama Group is his most ambitious challenge yet. The play, which features a 14-member cast, numerous quick costume changes, and complex comedic staging, is pushing Dos Santos and his cast and crew to new heights and big laughs.

Dos Santos is passionate about the project, seeing it as a perfect fit for community theatre. Calendar Girls tells the story of a group of Women’s Institute members who create a daring fundraising calendar after one of their husbands dies from cancer. 

Based on a true story, the wildly popular Calendar Girls has seen a few different iterations: as a film, a play, and even a musical, so Dos Santos knew it would be a hit with audiences. But pulling off a production of this scale is no small feat.

“It really is the most complicated play I've worked with. This one is tops in terms of demands in props, costumes, there are a lot of sound cues, a lot of light cues,” he said.

With 10 women and four men on stage, Dos Santos emphasizes the importance of creating a rehearsal environment that makes the process fun and inclusive for the actors. The cast includes performers with varying levels of experience, some of whom were recruited from neighbouring communities like Nanaimo and Ladysmith to help fill out the large ensemble. Even those with little performing experience are welcome and Dos Santos works closely with all the actors, ensuring everyone feels supported.

“People have to start somewhere,” he said.

In fact, the Yellow Point Drama Group has a history of nurturing new talent. Over its 70-plus-year history, the group has seen several actors go on to professional acting careers and they have even provided bursaries to some high school graduates pursuing acting programs. 

For Dos Santos, who has been part of the Yellow Point Drama Group for 36 years, the process of directing Calendar Girls has mirrored the story itself — a group of people coming together, stepping out of their comfort zones, and achieving something greater than themselves.

“It’s a big production. It’s a lot of work, but I think people will really enjoy themselves,” Dos Santos said, noting that ticket sales are already strong, with one date already sold out. 

“It's about a friendship. They kind of develop together and making a calendar like that [creates] quite a unifying spirit for them.”

That does sound a lot like a community theatre production, and one worth getting tickets for quickly before they sell out.

Calendar Girls opens on Oct. 18 at the Cedar Community Hall, 2388 Cedar Rd., with performances running through Nov. 3. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit Yellow Point Drama Group.