As one of a minority of men in the audience for this stage production of the comedy Calendar Girls in Tavistock Town Hall I had limited expectations of the humour.

However, I had seen the 2003 film of the same name – and by the same writer Tim Firth – and enjoyed its humour and characterisation of the ‘ordinary’ female leads in their fight against the WI hierarchy in support of a good cause.

The film, starring Julie Waters and Helen Mirren, is based closely on the true 1999 events of a North Yorkshire WI branch posing nude for a controversial charity calendar to raise millions for cancer research after the husband of one member dies from blood cancer.

The play, by Teylu Theatre Company, a South East Cornwall not-for-profit community group, is as funny and as uplifting as the film.

Indeed Tavistock staging of the play, on Friday, August 7, went one step further by raising money for the Plymouth Radiotherapy Development Fund at Derriford Hospital.

Reality also underpins the production on a personal basis because three of the actors have survived breast cancer treatment to bravely bare their scars on stage.

I did wonder how the nude aspects of the show would be portrayed in a relatively conservative market town like Tavistock and the actors did not shirk the issue. All the WI cast did indeed strip off behind screens before emerging with strategically placed items (featuring traditional WI interests, knitting, tea, jam and produce) to produce artistic poses.

The audience of largely middle-aged women loved every minute and laughed heartily. The secret to the production’s success is the humour of the script, the poignancy of the fictional and inter-cast relationships, the warmth of the actors and the intimacy they formed with the Tavistock sisterhood (and a few men), united in understanding of shared experiences.

The WI staples of jam and Jerusalem (the latter features heavily on stage) are backed up by charity sales of homemade cakes and biscuits (what else?) for the audience in the interval.

Calendar Girls by Teylu is playing at Launceston Town Hall on Friday, August 14.