Shirley Valentine is on at the Octagon theatre in Bolton from Friday the 7th of February until Saturday the 8th of March.
This tour de force is penned by the brilliant playwright Willy Russell who also created Educating Rita, Blood Brothers and many other works for film and television.
His award-winning work is globally regarded among other modern classics and reaches a wide audience without jeopardising the seriousness that lies at the core of his writing.
Lotte Wakeham who is the director of the show approached Willy Russell with the actor Mina Anwar with a special request to stage the show in a different location. Mina, who plays Shirley, asked if it might be possible to relocate the play to a Lancashire town rather than its traditional Liverpool setting. After pitching the idea Willy gave his blessings to Mina to adapt the setting, a rare honour! She did, by including the local towns of Heywood and Rawtenstall. She used her Lancashire accent to breathe life into the character.
Mina, Lotte, the exceptional creative team, stage managers and technical crew rose up to create a compelling story that many can identify with or know from the film starring Oscar nominated Pauline Collins released in 1989.
Shirley is a middle-aged woman, feeling trapped in a dull world of domesticity in a small Lancashire town. She craves for a change in the tedious life that she feels trapped in before she has another conversation with her kitchen wall! Her friend invites her on a holiday to a Greek island and Shirley jumps at the chance. At the start of the holiday her friend abandons her for a fling, which means Shirley is on her own and left to her own devices. She wanders the island and meets a tavern owner and through this encounter begins to find joy in life again and reconnects with her own unmarried self … Shirley Valentine.
Mina Anwar has played Shirley before and returning to this new adaptation has the audience gripped in this challenging one woman show. Her brilliant performance captivated the theatregoers, blending poignant moments with well-timed laughter. The two hour journey, starting off in a little kitchen in Accrington, in the first scene, ended up at a table by the sea in Greece, in the second.The excellent set design and use of props were used to great effect.
Go and see it! Theatre and performance at its very best!
Photo: Craig Fuller
Peter Johnson for Canal St Media