SHIRLEY VALENTINE

 

Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell

Directed by Lee lewis. Performed by Natalie Bassingthwaighte.  Simone Romaniuk – Costume and Set Design. Paul Jackson – Lighting Designer. Marcello Lo Ricco – Sound Designer. Brady Watkins – Composer. Jennifer White – Dialect Coach. Neil Gooding & Alex Woodward – Producers. Canberra Theatre. Canberra Theatre Centre. March 19-23 2025. Bookings canberratheatre.com.au or 62752700

 

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

 

 The rapturous standing ovation at the end of Shirley Valentine at the Canberra Theatre on opening night was not only to applaud Natalie Bassingthwaighte  triumphant solo performance in the eponymous role, It also acknowledged Lee Lewis’s astute and beautifully orchestrated direction. And it identified wholeheartedly with playwright Willy Russell’s award winning play about an English housewife who seizes the opportunity to escape her little life and discover herself on a Greek Island.

It is almost thirty years since I saw Pauline Collins premiere the role of Shirley Bradshaw nee Valentine in the West End. What struck me as I watched Bassingthwaighte bring the character so vividly and realistically to life that Russell’s portrait of a woman wishing to break free from a life unused and to discover her true identity and spirit is as relevant today as it was thirty years ago. The play is rich with references  that strike a familiar chord with anyone who has found themselves defined by other people’s view of them  and judgemental expectations . As the curtain rises we discover 42 year old Shirley Valentine in her modest kitchen preparing a meal of egg and chips for her husband Joe. She is talking to the wall while sipping on a glass of wine that she continues to top up. Russell’s insight into the life and character of the working class north country women is acute. Like Rita in Educating Rita Russell creates women constricted by circumstance who know that they can strive for a more meaningful and fulfilling life. For Rita it is academic pursuit to improve her lot. For Shirley it is the chance gift of an air ticket to Greece from her friend Jane that symbolizes her ticket to freedom and escape fro m a husband incapable of change and adult children living their own lives. It is a struggle that Shirley eventually overcomes at the end of the first act.

In the second act we find her on the Greek Island, dressed in the red silk dress that her neighbour Jillian gave her in envious admiration of Shirley’s bravery. Her feminist friend Jane has left her to hook up with a man she met on the plane and Shirley finds herself with the kind of tourists who seem to take delight in complaining and criticizing. At a tavern she meets the smooth talking Costas and with him discovers her dream and the courage to live her life on her terms. Her passionate affair with Costas on his boat is an act of empowerment and self discovery. Russell creates characters who escape a sense of low self esteem imposed in Shirley’s case by her unappreciative husband or an intimidating school headmistress or demanding kids. At the end of the play, the audience learns that Joe is coming to take Shirley back to their house in Manchester. It will be a different Shirley he finds, living her new life on the Greek Island.

Bassingthwaighte’s performance is a tour de force. Alone on stage for the entire evening, she captivates the audience with her portrayal of Russell’s ordinary Lancashire lass. Director Lewis guides Bassingthwaighte through the changing moments and rhythms of the monologue. At times Bassingthwaighte is the skilled stand-up comedian relating the discovery of the clitoris or describing her son Brian’s childhood role of Joseph in the nativity play. The audience can be heard laughing uproariously one moment and falling completely silent in the moments of pathos as Shirley pauses to reflect on her life experiences. Bassingthwaighte’s timing is superb, her storytelling engrossing and her charm charismatic. She holds the audience entranced by Shirley’s story and inspired by her resolve to live the life she wants and not the life she has to. Under Lewis’s sensitive and perceptive direction, Bassingthwaighte gives a performance in Willy Russell's witty and insightful play that is not to be missed.