Sally Reid Will Play Shirley Valentine in Pitlochry Festival Theatre Revival of SHIRLEY VALENTINE Next Month

Pitlochry Festival Theatre is set to open its Autumn season with television and stage actor Sally Reid (Scot Squad, BBC Scotland) starring in a brand-new revival of the much-loved award-winning comedy Shirley Valentine, Willy Russell's (Blood Brothers and Educating Rita) heart-warming story about a middle-aged, working-class Liverpool housewife whose life is transformed after a holiday in Greece.

Presented in association with An Tobar and Mull Theatre and directed by Pitlochry Festival Theatre's Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman, Shirley Valentine will run in Pitlochry from 13-29 October and then tour to the Isles of Mull and Iona from 1-4 November.

Shirley's a middle-aged Liverpool housewife, who finds herself talking to the wall while she prepares her husband's 'egg 'n' chips,' wondering what happened to her life.

She compares scenes in her current life with what she used to be like and feels she is stagnating and in a rut. But when her best friend wins an all-expenses-paid vacation to Greece for two, she leaves the drudgery of cooking dinner for her husband behind her, packs her bags and heads for the sun. The note on the kitchen table reads 'Gone to Greece, back in two weeks.' Shirley begins to see the world, and herself, in a different light.

Shirley Valentine received its world stage première in Liverpool in 1986 before the play opened in the West End two years later, with Pauline Collins playing the title role, directed by Simon Callow, winning two awards at the prestigious Olivier awards. A year later the play transferred to Broadway in 1989 with Collins in the title role.

The same year, Shirley Valentine was made into a film and earned Collins a BAFTA Award and a nomination for the 1990 Oscars. The play became an overnight classic, with its contrast between the dull atmosphere of suburbia and the glittering glamour of Greece, which captured the imagination of a whole generation of theatre goers and cinema fans.

In the title role of Shirley will be star of screen and stage Sally Reid. Best known for playing PC Sarah Fletcher in the hit BBC Scotland comedy series Scot Squad. Sally's other television credits include Annika (UKTV), River City (BBC Scotland), Karen Pirie (ITV) and Rab C. Nesbitt (BBC Scotland). On stage Sally's extensive theatre credits in Scotland include The James Plays (National Theatre of Scotland), Rhinoceros (Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh) and Time and the Conways (Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and Dundee Rep) for which Sally was nominated Best Actress at the Theatre Management Awards in 2013.

Sally Reid said:

"As a Perthshire lass, I am super excited to be working at Pitlochry Festival Theatre. And to be working on such a wonderful script with such fantastic characters and depth of story is a real thrill."

Shirley Valentine is directed by Pitlochry Festival Theatre's Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman and designed by Emily James ( Adam, National Theatre of Scotland) .

Director Elizabeth Newman said:

"I have loved Shirley Valentine for many years. I remember watching the film when I was 17 and then reading the play, which really did change my life. I felt like, I not only knew this woman, but I understood her desire to really live life to the full. Willy Russell's play is careful, powerful, and funny and it keeps speaking to people in lots of different ways so I can't wait to share it in Pitlochry this autumn.

Shirley, like many of us, is faced with difficult decisions and the truthful way Russell draws her reality makes you laugh and moves you to tears. I am thrilled to be making this piece of theatre with such a fantastic team of women too. I've long admired Sally's work and I am very excited for audiences to experience her playing this iconic role at Pitlochry Festival Theatre and also in Mull and Iona. It's the first time we've collaborated with An Tobar and Mull Theatre and I'm hoping it's going to be the first of many collaborations with Rebecca and the Team."

Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, Chief Executive & Artistic Director of An Tobar and Mull Theatre added:

"We're looking forward to working with the brilliant team at PFT to bring a little bit of Greek sunshine to the Isle of Mull this winter."

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