An impressive cast of women of a certain age provide a mixture of gentle humour, tears and semi-nudity in the popular Calendar Girls.

The play is based on a true story about members of a Yorkshire women’s institute posing nude for a charity calendar and achieving world fame in the process.

Tim Firth’s stage adaptation of his own screenplay is, at times, too light despite dealing with death and controversy in showing what an extraordinary difference a group of ordinary women can achieve.

Lesley Joseph, as the mischievous older woman Chris, and Sue Holderness, playing the warm and tender Annie, dovetail well while raising funds in memory of Annie’s cancer victim husband John (Colin Tarrant).

Kacey Ainsworth is excellent as the timid, prudish Ruth, and Kathryn Rooney is ideal in the role of the glamorous Celia.

They are well supported by Deena Payne, Helen Fraser and Ruth Madoc, while Kevin Sacre and Camilla Dallerup make the most of their cameo roles.

The actual photo shoot sees the women obscuring their modesty with food, knitting, tea pots and suchlike. The play, benefiting from the effective sets of Robert Jones, then deals with the amazing reaction to the calendar, which raises an initial £500,000.