[THEATRE REVIEW] SHIRLEY VALENTINE @ The Atheneum Theatre Review (2025)
Life hasn’t turned out the way 42-year-old Liverpool housewife Shirley Valentine had envisaged.
Married with two adult children – a boy and a girl – routine and boredom see her literally speaking to the wall for company and imbibing in more than the odd tipple.
Her husband Joe (who we never get to meet) takes her for granted.
He expects her to have the evening meal prepared and on the table the moment he walks through the door and woe betide if it doesn’t come with meat.
Then, her best friend Jane – whose husband left her for the milkman – invites her to join her on a two-week holiday to Greece.
To seal the deal, Jane buys her the return ticket.
Still, fearful of how her husband will respond (because that would mean no freshly cooked meals or washing done for a fortnight), Shirley prevaricates.
But his response to being served eggs and chips one night steels her resolve.
So, off to Greece she flies for the adventure of a lifetime, which will see her reinvigorated in more ways than one.
Natalie Bassingthwaighte dazzles as Shirley Valentine.
Hers is an exacting, exuberant and luminous performance, in which she readily tackles several accents.
For the most part, she is cheeky and cheery, though the script by Willy Russell mixes humour with pathos and, accordingly, there are reflective moments.
Bassinghthwaighte straddles all with aplomb. She is a natural.
And I should say the task at hand is far from easy or straightforward.
I speak of keeping an audience engaged throughout a 110-minute monologue, complete with mood shifts.
Lee Lewis’ direction sees her never straying from the path.
Of course, credit must also go to Russell’s pithy and pointed writing, which continues to resonate almost four decades after the play first opened.
Perhaps that is because it offers others stuck in a rut like Shirley hope if they are prepared to take a leap of faith.
Much of what gives the play spark are the glorious one liners (there is a lot of humour in there) and Shirley’s ability not to take herself too seriously.
Not for naught did Shirley Valentine receive the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 1988.
Hats off to Simone Romaniuk for her set and costume design in this Australian production.
It is a basic ‘80s kitchen setting in Act I, before a quantum shift after interval, which sees Shirley transported to a sun-soaked Greek island.
The juxtaposition in costuming is dramatic.
Shirley Valentine brings with it laughter, joy and heart, and is well worth seeing. It is on at Athenaeum Theatre until 16th February, 2025.
Review by Alex First Photography by Brett Boardman