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The superb Jodie Prenger as Shirley Valentine, in deep discussion with the wall. Pictures: Manuel Harlan Shirley Valentine
The New Alexandra Theatre
***** THERE are two stars of this most welcome
return of frustrated housewife Shirley, Jodie Prenger and Willy
Russell's brilliant script. Good comedy has to be funny but great comedy
needs more, it needs everyday situations you can relate to, and it needs
pathos to balance the laughs and Russell mixes all the ingredients to
perfection. All it needs is a quite beautiful performance
from Prenger to bring the words and Shirley to life. I have only ever
seen Shirley Valentine in studio productions, confined spaces where she
has two walls to talk to, the scripted one in the kitchen and the
invisible fourth wall surrounding her which gives the play its intimacy. Prenger has a full stage and large theatre to
fill and does it magnificently, generating that necessary feeling that
she is chatting just to us in first her kitchen and then on a Greek beach.
She uses the stage well, adding gestures and movement not needed in the
confinement of a studio – Shirley has to work for front row, back row
and gods. Russell's Shirley cuts a sad figure. She is 42
and life seems to have passed her by. The burning fires of passion and
exhilaration when she first married Joe and they sat in the bath
together and did exciting things have long ago died down. Look closely
and a few embers might still be glowing. She and Joe are in a rut, a rut that gets deeper
day by day. They share a house but not really a life. All is explained
by Shirley in a very funny, friendly, matter of fact way. There is no
bitterness, no anger, but a resigned acceptance . . . almost! She feels
that she and her life have become worthless, but perhaps the embers still
have some life in them after all. She wants to be alive again, how she
once was, be Shirley Valentine again. Thursday is steak night – except in a little
flash of rebellion – tonight she is cooking chips and egg and already
knows Joe's reaction. Friend Jane has booked Shirley on a two week
holiday with her in Greece. She dare not go, except, as Joe is . . .
well Joe, and the spark of rebellion grows, Shirley takes the plunge
and heads off into the sun – leaving a freezer full of frozen meals and
a note telling Joe she has gone stuck on the fridge door. The monologue is populated with a whole cast of characters, from her son and daughter Brian and Millandra; the goody two shoes from school; the cruel head; Gillian the bragging neighbour; manhunting feminist Jane; boorish, racist guests in the hotel; and Costas, the charming waiter with a skilled line in chat for single, middle aged women, full of honourable promises he knows he will never be required to keep.
And we leave Shirley who stayed long after the
holiday ended, sipping wine by the sea. Shirley Bradshaw is no more,
once more she is Shirley Valentine. Joe has become less aggressive each time he
calls and now he is on his way to see her. Whether the pair will
rediscover what they once had or call it a day . . . that's up to you
and Shirley Valentine to decide. Prenger lives the part, bringing out the sadness,
frustration and pathos of a woman who feels her life stagnating, all
under a cloak of wonderful humour. It is not an easy role. On stage
alone, holding an audience for almost two hours, is no mean feat. An
enthusiastic, well deserved standing ovation says she succeeded far
better than words. Behind all the laughs, and there are plenty,
there is a brilliantly crafted, moving, very human play. Russell has the
remarkable ability to write scripts that remain contemporary. There
might be a couple of references that fix the time in the 80s if you
listen carefully, but this is about people and their emotions and
feelings whether 31 years ago when it was written, or today, tomorrow or
whenever. Each time I see the play there is something new,
something missed last time around and it was interesting to see it on a
large stage, helped by Amy Yardley's clever design, first of a kitchen,
angled walls centred on the stage, then of huge rocks on the beach, again
helping to centre the action, without Prenger ever appearing lost.
Thoughtful and skilful design while Glen Walford, the director, has done
a fine job in giving an intimate feel to a one hander on a large stage. This is the first major revival of Russell's
play which was a huge success from its first appearance at Liverpool's
Everyman in 1986. Two years later it was a West End success, a year
after that Broadway and a successful movie version – then all went
quiet, although there was a US national tour starring Lorretta Swit in
1995. Not that it was ever forgotten, it is a regular for small, studio
productions and with amateur companies. But this will be the first real
chance to see the play for many people. Don't miss it. To 11-03-17 Roger Clarke 07-03-17
And behind the wall
*****
THERE is only one woman on stage for the whole of this Willy Russell
comedy, but by the time the audience leave the theatre they know a great
deal about ten others and are probably laughing all the way home.
That’s a tribute to BBC TV’s I’d Do
Anything winner Jodie Prenger who gives
a brilliant performance as the bored, middle aged Liverpool housewife,
Shirley Valentine, who suddenly gets a taste of the good life when a
girlfriend takes her on a sun-kissed freebie holiday to the golden sands
of Greece. She’s in
the kitchen cooking ‘chips and egg’ for husband Joe – who’s expecting
steak – when the story opens, and she eventually flies away without
telling him and begins a heart-warming adventure even after her best pal
deserts her for a while after meeting ‘a groin’ on the plane. Shirley’s
habit of chatting to the kitchen wall while sipping a glass of wine
switches to talking to a rock on a Grecian beach, and Jodie’s clever and
amusing delivery is so effective you almost forget she is all alone with
her stories from home and abroad. It’s
hilarious at times, especially when she meets Costas in his taverna,
goes on a romantic boat trip with him and chuckles at his admiration for
her stretch lines after he has a pretty blunt way of explaining that his
intentions are honorable. “I not want to…….” Oh yes? Anyone who
has left a boring existence for a fortnight of fun in the sun will
understand Shirley Valentine’s glee in Greece. And Jodie brings her to
life with wonderful skill and delightful comedy timing, thoroughly
deserving the inevitable standing ovation. Directed
by Glen Walford, Shirley Valentine continue chatting to a wall and a
rock – and the audience, To 11-03-17. Paul
Marston
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