Isn't that right, wall?

The latest in an occasional series of theatre reviews...

Shirley Valentine : The Duke Of York's Theatre

The second one-woman show I've written about and, unlike the last one, I was very much expecting to stay awake for it.  The sense of expectation was palpably high with everyone else in the theatre, which was very full - even the standing spaces at the back were taken up.  Part of this was for the play, which is reasonably well known and part of it for Sheridan Smith, who people (including myself) seem to just like.  And, for a change, the curtain was down when we went into the theatre - they were playing it mysterious.  

So the lights went down and the curtain went up to reveal a very detailed 80s kitchen (including a hob on which she fries a couple of eggs) - and we basically spend the first half there with Shirley/Sheridan as she recounts her life, how she got here, whether she should take her friend Jane up on the offer of a holiday in Greece and how her husband will react if she does.  And in the second half, we see her on a much simpler stage with just a big rock and a cafe table and chairs because (spoiler alert) she's gone to Greece.

And, to be honest, that's all you really need to know.  It's a very well written play offering plenty of emotion and plenty of laughs - it's not a challenging watch, but the mostly female and mostly older audience weren't there to be challenged and they absolutely lapped it up.  Watching it you also realise how well the film (with Pauline Collins - well worth a watch if you haven't seen it) is done - they extend it well but still play to its theatrical strengths.

Sheridan obviously does a good job (you'd expect nothing less) - I found her slightly less believable in the first half where she's a downtrodden housewife, but her spark shone through in the second half when she's found herself again.  She has to be commended for the huge number of lines she's learned though and she's certainly got a good sense of comic timing - at one point she gave herself the giggles when she took some audience interaction a little further than she was expecting to.

So, it was mostly a very enjoyable evening - I do have a stressful tale to recount!  During the interval, the woman who was sat next to me went off to the bar - and left her phone on her seat!!!  What kind of MANIAC does that?!?  So obviously I couldn't leave my seat - what if it disappeared and then she came back and all I had to say for myself was "well it was there when I left"?  Oh, the stress!  But things got even worse, because (and I swear I didn't touch it) it then fell on the floor.  What was I supposed to do now?  I can't leave it there to have someone stand on it, but I also can't pick it up because you know she'll choose that moment to come back and ask me what I'm doing with her phone.   Aarrrgh.  

Get a grip man - just pick it up, you'll be fine.  One swift retrieval and careful replacement later, all is good - I got away with it.  Phew, just relax - everything is good.  Nothing could go wrong now - unless it fell on the floor again.  Which it obviously did, almost immediately.  And yes, she came back just as I was picking it up again - which resulted in a very flustered explanation on my part.  And her response?!?  "Oh, I was wondering where I'd left it".  Is she INSANE?!?

OK - so you didn't need to know that, but I feel a lot better for getting it off my chest.  Back to the drama on the stage, I think this was a good performance of a great play - I doubt there was anything outstanding about it compared with other performances, but it was all very enjoyable.  And when you look at who has played Shirley, I imagine there have been some pretty special performances - Pauline Collins (of course, directed by Simon Callow both in London and on Broadway), Meera Syal, Jodie Prenger and Ellen Burstyn.  And who played her first?  Obviously it was Noreen Kershaw when it opened in Liverpool - until she got appendicitis.  And given it's a one-woman show, there was no understudy - ah.  So who took the role for three weeks?  Willy Russell, the writer - I imagine they were pretty interesting performances!

All of which makes me sound a bit down on this production, but I really wasn't - it's a great evening and provides loads more laughs than most plays.  Yes, maybe the rest of the audience chortled more than I did but we all know I'm a grumpy old man - I'm definitely more Joe than Shirley.

For Black Boys... - a proper piece of theatre
The Pillowman - a somewhat dark play