Calendar Girls make it a red letter day for Chichester

And audiences find it an irresistible combination of gritty Yorkshire humour, WI stoicism, and the resolve of a group of very normal women to do extraordinary things in the battle against cancer.

This latest interpretation of a true story performed at Chichester Festival Theatre boasts the added dimension of being a full-blown musical.

Thanks to the talents of Gary Barlow and writer Tim Firth, the production rolls along with instantly forgettable but utterly foot-tapping numbers that keep the mood breezy even at the darkest moments in the story.

When Annie's husband John finds he has terminal leukaemia, he battles on with humour and graceful positivity.

After he loses that fight, his wife and her WI colleagues determine to raise money for a new sofa in the poorly furnished hospital waiting room.

But they raise a few eyebrows too - as they abandon traditional landscape calendars and pose for one in the nude.

Sarah Jane Buckley as Annie and Rebecca Storm as her friend Chris lead the tears and smiles - aided by a great cast including the wonderful Ruth Madoc.

The first half seems a little lacking in pace - but by the time the girls come to remove their garments protected by some appropriately positioned cakes and buns the play is fairly whizzing along.

Not the greatest theatre but a real winter anti-dote.

The audience adored it and judging by the applause it was one of the best received shows of the year.

A red letter day in the Chichester calendar.

Gary Shipton