THE LONG-AWAITED production of Calendar Girls by Blake Drama Group is underway, with  performances running every night from 7.45pm until Saturday (November 17).

Written by Tim Firth and made into the now famous film, the play follows an amusing fundraising idea by a group of ladies from North Yorkshire who want to buy a settee for the local hospital.

When Angela Barker’s husband died from non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1998, she and her friends from the local Women’s Institute decided to raise money by producing their ‘2000 Alternative Calendar’.

The rest is history – to date it has raised a staggering £3million in aid of leukaemia research. Blake Drama Group director Jillian Rowe selected a group of talented ladies from auditions over the summer to take part in this funny and touching production.

The show runs until Saturday at Bridgwater Arts Centre with curtain-up at 7.45pm.

Tickets are £8 from Bridgwater Bookshop (01278- 457565) and Bridgwater Arts Centre on 01278-422700 or via bridgwaterartscentre.co.uk

Part royalties from the production will be donated to Leukaemia Research.