Review: SHIRLEY VALENTINE Is An Amusing Piece Of Nostalgic Comedy That Still Holds A Relevance In The 21st Century

Director Lee Lewis brings Willy Russell’s (playwright) one woman comedy SHIRLEY VALENTINE back to the Sydney stage with Natalie Bassingthwaighte as the famous housewife that talked to walls and rocks. While women’s roles in society have changed and evolved in the intervening four decades since it premiered in Liverpool, Shirley’s story of finding her life again still holds a relevance in the 21st century for many women.

Set in the 80’s in a suburban house in Liverpool, Shirley Bradshaw is spending another night, glass of white wine in hand, preparing her husband’s dinner so that its ready for him when he walks in the door.  With their children grown up and out of the house, Shirley is stuck in the same monotony she has had for years with a husband that doesn’t appreciate her and only inanimate objects for company.  Its through the one-sided conversation she has with the kitchen wall that the audience discover that before Shirley Valentine married Joe Bradshaw and had Millandra and Brian, she was a person in her own right.  Offered the opportunity to get away from it all for two weeks when feminist friend Jane invites her to come away with her on a holiday to Greece, she stalls, weighed down with the burden of expectations and obligations but in reality, Joe’s a grown man, he can fend for himself for a few weeks, and she’s already put plans in place for his care like one would organise for a child or a pet.

The work has been kept firmly in the 80’s setting and set and Costume Designer Simone Romaniuk has created a typical 80’s kitchen in which to contain Bassingthwaighte’s performance.  Wallpapered walls, teal Laminex countertop with woodgrain cabinets, lace by the meter curtains and a simple kitchen table anchor the work while providing variety for the one hour monologue of the Act 1 of play to take place.  An oversized sweater and baggy jeans paired with an outrageous unmoving perm completes Shirley’s look.  While suburban Liverpool domesticity is presented with intricate detail, the beachside taverna on a Greek Island is the complete opposite with the only allusion to a Mediterranean paradise being the white ‘remnants’ of ancient artifacts and a bank of blue panels that catch the light as they move. 

Bassingthwaighte handles the material well, taking Shirley to a somewhat ‘brighter’ expression than the film version, potentially leaning more into the bottle of wine that the character polishes off while cooking, and techniques to ensure she maintains the Liverpudlian accent.  Director Lee Lewis has ensured that there is sufficient movement on stage without it becoming too distracting and Marcello Lo Ricco’s sound design is the only cue aside from the monologue to colour the recollections that Shirley shares with the wall, and the audience. 

 While this was the first time seeing this work on stage in Russell’s original intent of a solo show, the movie which was released in 1989 is still recalled.  It was a favourite of your BroadwayWorld Senior Editor’s mother, having a high degree of relatability at the time so it was interesting to see if it held the same resonance as it did for my mother now that I am the same age she was when she saw the movie. While I don’t have a particular ‘lived experience’ recognition of the character and nor did my guest, SHIRLEY VALENTINE retains a relevance in the 21st century as there are still people, predominantly women, that are stuck in lives where they don’t think they can do more than be defined by their relationships and that ‘responsibility’ stops them from seeking more from life. Hopefully SHIRLEY VALENTINE is more than just a piece of entertainment to those that can relate, and they too will learn to love themselves and fall in love with life again.

Photos: Brett Boardman