SHIRLEY VALENTINE

Chelmsford Theatre Workshop at the Old Court

20.01.09

Close cousin to Willy Russell's Rita, Liverpool housewife and mother Shirley feels frustration at her “unused life”.

Wistful, witty and wilful, her character was wonderfully well drawn by Debbie Miles, in a performance that was confident and charismatic. She chatted happily to the white walls, and to us, through the invisible fourth wall.

I loved the way she brought the supporting cast to life – who needs Tom Conti ? - Marjorie Majors, Head Girl turned call-girl, her feckless man Joe, her feminist friend Jane.

We chuckled with her as she aired her forthright thoughts on sex, men and growing up. Felt for her when she had a little weep at the kitchen table. And shared her mixed emotions when, right at the end, Joe failed to recognise the new Shirley:

I used to be The Mother. I used to be The Wife. But now I'm Shirley Valentine again. Would you like to join me for a drink?

Jim Hutchon was at the opening night for the Chelmsford Weekly News:

Willy Russell’s monologue about a serial, taken-for-granted Liverpudlian door-mat who kicks over the traces for a life of Greek sun, sea and sex is one of the most demanding roles in English theatre. Debbie Miles stepped up to the mark and produced a beautifully modulated performance, full of wit and style, delivered at machine gun pace. Possessed of a real sense of comic timing, she inhabited the character and spelled out the regret of a lost youth with a heady mixture of ironic humour and philosophical pathos.

In her lonely life, Shirley’s favourite confidante is her kitchen wall, though some of the sense of these intimate exchanges between the wall, which becomes the listener, and the audience, which becomes the eavesdropper, was lost in this production. Director Steve Holding opted for a straightforward delivery to the audience as his main way of getting the story told, though I would have preferred a bit more movement about the stage.

Following a lucky chance, Shirley takes the opportunity of a holiday in Greece, where she is liberated by the complete change from her hum-drum existence. I felt that more of a change in tone, an increased lightness in delivery perhaps, could have marked the change between the Liverpudlian and Greek existences, though.

The set was commendably bare: blank walls and a kitchen table to start with, and a sun lounger to finish, although I found the rather pointless projected backdrops – especially the kitchen scene - irritating and distracting. All in all, this was a production well up to CTW’s exacting standards, as attested by the happy, predominantly female, near full house that exited the theatre.