Reviewed by Amanda Hayes
Last night (3 July 2017) was press night at Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells for the stage adaption of Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine. Premiered back in 1986 and adapted into an Oscar winning film Shirley Valentine is one of my favourite films of all time and both my mum, who attended with me, and myself were extremely excited to see how the film transferred to stage.
Split into two halves the show follows the story of the film as much as possible with an amazing one woman performance by Jodie Prenger as the Liverpool housewife. The first half of the show is set in the kitchen and tells the story of Shirley’s unhappy marriage. At only 42 she feels her life is over, her children are grown up and left home and her life is routine and mundane. Taken for granted by her husband, Joe, and children her dream is to travel, a dream she believes can never come true until one day her feminist friend Jane buys her a ticket for two weeks holiday in Greece. Shirley takes the tickets meaning to return them to Jane as she cannot leave her husband alone to fend for himself for two weeks. Things soon change though when an argument over serving the wrong dinner causes her to change her mind and go. She spends the next 3 weeks packing and filling the freezer with meals for her husband, leaves a note and disappears off to Greece without telling him.
The second half is set in Greece where friend Jane meets a fella on the plane and abandons Shirley from day 1. Alone but not lonely she soon gets into the Greek way of life when she meets Costa, the local taverna manager. He takes her out on his brother’s boat and treats her like a real woman something that she hasn’t felt for a long time. Shirley knows then that she can’t go back to her old life and at the airport she makes a decision to stay in Greece and make a new life for herself. Working nights in Costa’s taverna and spending her days doing what she wants to do for a change is wonderful and she turns down frequent requests from her husband to return to England. The final scene is Shirley sitting on the beach waiting for Joe as he arrives in Greece to take her home.
We were both surprised that the show was a monologue and wondered how it would pan out with the other central characters of the film missing but this show is everything that you could want from an evening out. Heart-warming, thought provoking, humorous and sad all at once Jodie Prenger’s performance as Shirley Valentine is pure class. I went from laughing out loud to wiping away tears from my eyes as sadness turns to joy when she realises there is much more to life that cooking and cleaning.
The show was held at the Tunbridge Wells Assembly hall which has been refurbished to provide comfortable seating and a well-stocked and vibrant bar area. Parking is extremely easy and right next door in a large multi storey car park at a cost of £1.50 for the entire evening. Pre and post-performance there are plenty of restaurants nearby if you are looking for a bite to eat with light snacks and ice creams being served in the theatre.
Shirley Valentine is a must see show and I defy anyone not to be moved by it. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5/5
Tickets cost from £15 (booking fees may apply).
Shirley Valentine is at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells from 3-8 July 2017, for more information or to book tickets visit www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk or call the box office on 01892 530613.
Assembly Hall Theatre, Crescent Rd, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2LU | 01892 530613
