After their nude calendar, Tasmania's unlikely sex symbols take to the stage

The quiet Tasmanian village of South Ard had never seen anything like it: nine women in their 70s and 80s stripping off for a calendar to raise money for new curtains for their community hall. But the calendar not only proved so popular that the hall has acquired a new wing; it also prompted a stage play that ended a two-week run at a Hobart theatre last night.

The women were inspired by a calendar made by a Women's Institute branch in Britain in 1999. It spawned numerous imitations, but Dot Kelly and her friends are possibly the first grandmothers to take off their clothes for a good cause. They freely admit they are no spring chickens; in fact, they call themselves "old chooks" (chickens), and the "chook" theme runs through the play, The Calendar. The play was written by Midge Moore, a retired teacher who lives in South Ard, a small community on the east coast of Tasmania. Despite the island's strait-laced reputation, The Calendar has been playing to full houses at the Peacock Theatre in central Hobart, the state capital. "Every man and his dog has been to see it," said Ms Moore. "The audiences love it. They lift the roof off some nights."

The nudity in the play, as in the calendar, is coyly masked by the actors' poses and by strategically placed props. Margaret Beasley, 72, a calendar girl who plays herself, turns her back to the audience before removing her black lace bra. Another character flings her knickers across the stage, but remains seated in such a way as to spare spectators' blushes.

The calendar was proposed by Mrs Kelly, 71, at a barbecue held to discuss fundraising ideas. She told the others: "We'll be six feet under by the time we get new curtains if we stick to coffee mornings and cake raffles. This calls for desperate measures. Let's do a calendar, and let's do it in the nick." A couple of people "choked on their wine", she said, and some suggested that a calendar featuring views of South Ard would sell more copies. But the women decided to go ahead.

Mrs Kelly's daughter, Ann, an amateur photographer, took the pictures. "When I first mentioned it, she gave me a funny look, as if to say 'mother's completely lost it this time'," Mrs Kelly said. "But when she realised we were serious, she relented."

The cover girl was Patricia Calvert, 82, pictured picking an apple while standing behind a large potted fern in her garden. Mrs Beasley, white-haired with five children and 14 grandchildren, posed for January stirring a pot of preserves. The caption reads: "Well preserved". The project caused much hilarity, and it was while listening to the women exchanging tales that Ms Moore, a friend, decided to write a play about them. The play weaves stories from their lives into the main plot about the making of the calendar. It is dedicated to one of the women, who was in remission from cancer at the time and died two months ago.

Ms Moore persuaded Don Gay, a respected director, to put on The Calendar. She said it had been technically difficult to stage because of the need to show nudity without being offensive. "Older ladies getting their gear off is really going against convention," she said. "But some of these old dears are really sexy." Mrs Beasley, who acquired a new boyfriend two years ago, said the play and calendar had struck a blow for older women. "You're only as young as you feel," she said.

Mrs Kelly is enjoying her new status as a senior sex symbol. "I can't go anywhere without being recognised," she said. "People look at you funny and then say, 'Aren't you in that calendar?' We've had letters from men asking us to send them a calendar, saying they want to put it in the toilet or the shed."

And the community hall? Thanks to the A$100,000 (£37,000) raised by the calendar it boasts the extension, red velvet curtains and a refurbished kitchen. "We've got a lovely new dishwasher and microwave," Mrs Beasley said.