Theater Reviews—

Shirley Valentine, The Woman And The Play Of The Same Name, Offer Hope And Warmth

By Julie Stern

NEW HAVEN — In the film version of Willy Russell’s play Educating Rita, there is a scene in which the rebellious heroine, Susan, accompanies her husband and parents to their local pub. As they all sit singing, she notices tears running down her mother’s face and asks what’s wrong. “I just wish there was a better song to sing,” her mother whispers.

In Shirley Valentine, the playwright has created another of his spunky, working class characters who aspire to find a better song, a life more meaningful than the one to which they are destined by social class and lack of education. This play takes the form of a two hour monologue during which the audience falls in love with its gallant, funny, self-deprecating heroine.

It’s the 1980’s. The middle-aged blonde with the thick Liverpool accent smiles nervously as she chatters  in her empty kitchen. Somehow, Shirley Valentine, the sassy, daredevil of her school days has morphed into Mrs Joe Bradshaw, locked in a life of weary habits and a stifling marriage to a husband whose only concern is that his dinner be on the table when he walks in the kitchen door. At 52, a menial worker, whose grown son and daughter neither understand nor respect her, Shirley stands in her kitchen whipping up a batch of egg and chips, and talking cheerfully to the only one who will listen to her — the wall.

Her friend Jane — who became a feminist after she caught her own husband in bed with the milkman — has invited Shirley to join her on a two week holiday to Greece, and Shirley must decide whether to take her up on the offer. It’s an impossibility. Her children will think she’s daft, her husband will forbid it, and the neighbors will talk…

Judith Ivey, who gave such a powerful performance as Amanda Wingfield in last year’s production of The Glass Menagerie, has returned to Long Wharf in a completely different role, demonstrating what a fine actress she is. The play is essentially comic, with some uproarious laughs, but at the same time, there is a poignancy and humanity in Shirley’s quest to understand who she has become, and whether it is possible to break through the constrictions of time and social class, to reestablish contact with the spirited young girl she once was.

The Eighties were a time of social change in Liverpool. Along with the success of the Beatles, young people were learning to sip wine, feminists were discussing women’s sexual fulfillment, and buskers were reciting poetry on the streets. As she wonders whether she is too old to change, Shirley summons up memories of slights she endured in school, and tells funny stories of recent encounters with people whom she always imagined as looking down on her.

At a rainy bus stop she is splashed by a posh looking woman in a big white car who turns out to be Margaret Majors, the high school classmate who was forever lauded by the teachers most likely to succeed. Shirley expects to be snubbed, but instead Margaret takes her to tea in a fancy hotel and confides some surprising personal information.

Buying lingerie for the trip (once she has decided to accept Jane’s offer) Shirley encounters Gillian, a nosy neighbor, and decides to shock the woman by telling her she is going to Greece with her lover. Rather than be scandalized, Gillian timidly knocks on Shirley’s door with a gift: a beautiful silk kimono that she herself had once bought years ago, in anticipation of a tryst that she ultimately lacked the courage to consummate.

Shirley slowly realizes that Margaret and Gillian see her not as a pathetic middle aged loser, but as a brave and daring individual; she understands that rather than be intimidated by them, she could have made friends. This is the start of wisdom, and as she starts to let down the defensive walls, the new, remodeled Shirley begins to emerge, thinking for herself and making serious choices.

The first act of the play is long — 80 minutes divided into two scenes set in the cramped kitchen with Shirley in her charwoman’s overall, dithering over the impossibility of accepting Jane’s invitation, followed by a more resolute Shirley in her white traveling suit. She has made the decision, packed her bags, gotten her passport, arranged for her mother to serve Joe the two weeks worth of dinners stocked in the freezer, and is awaiting the taxi…

The second act is just 20 minutes, but the stage is transformed into an Agean seashore, and we find out what happens when Shirley gets to Greece. I won’t tell you what that is, but hope springs eternal, and the audience is rooting for something magical.

As a character, Shirley Valentine is a staunch and loveable heroine. As a play, it is a delightful concoction, given a fine production, in keeping with Long Wharf’s high standards. If you can’t get to Greece yourself this winter, this play is the next best thing to bring some warmth and sunlight into your life.

(Performances continue until January 2 on Long Wharf’s Stage II, 222 Sargent Drive in New Haven. See the Enjoy Calendar or call 203-787-4282 for curtain and ticket details.)