A marvellous performance by Jodie Prenger as Shirley Valentine

London Event Reviews by May B

It’s hard to believe that Willy Russell’s one-woman-show Shirley Valentine was first performed 30 years ago. Along with his Educating Rita it ranks as one of my favourite contemporary plays about women.

Shirley Valentine, in case you haven’t seen the play or the film starring Pauline Collins and Tom Conti, is about a 40-something bored empty nester housewife from Liverpool who longs for adventure and escapes for a transformational holiday to Greece.

The first act takes place in Shirley’s pine kitchen where her frustration and loneliness are illustrated by conversations with her wall. In the first scene Shirley looks back on her vivacious and rebellious younger self and remembers all the things she wanted to do – especially travel. She feels tied to her “little life” with husband Joe. The second shorter act takes place on a beach in Greece where Shirley talks about her Greek adventures and how she falls in love with life again.

Jodie Prenger takes the role of Shirley and makes it her own. She manages to convey the quick-fire down-to-earth wit of a Scouser with the bewildered sadness of a mother of grown children wondering what happened to her life. Through her monologue she conveyed with great skill the different characters she speaks about – Joe her husband, Jane her friend, old school friend Marjorie, her daughter, her neighbour and the people she meets in Greece. Her mastery of both accents and physical comedy shone out.

It was a bewitching, charming and humorous performance and Jodie won us over from the start. There were plenty of laughs along the way. It's a timeless story and Just about everyone connected with this story of reflection and personal change. Perhaps there’s a bit of Shirley in all of us.

Shirley Valentine plays at Richmond Theatre until Saturday http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/shirley-valentine/richmond-theatre/ and then continues its UK tour.

Posted Date
Mar 21, 2017 in London Event Reviews by May B by May B