The Drama Factory to Stage SHIRLEY VALENTINE

The Drama Factory will stage Shirley Valentine, a drama written by Willy Russel. The show will star Natasha Sutherland and is directed by Gina Schmukler. The show runs for about two hours and will play from March 10th through the 13th. Tickets are R160.00 and can be purchased here, here, or by calling the Box Office at 073 215 2290. The Drama Factory is located at 10 Comprop Sq, Henry Vos Close, Asla Business Park, Strand, Western Cape, South Africa.

Natasha Sutherland plays Shirley Valentine in the award-winning British one-woman play by Willy Russell. Shirley is a bored, middle-aged housewife, trapped in a stale, loveless marriage. Her children are all grown up and she frequently talks to the wall in her kitchen while preparing her husband's regular evening meal of egg and chips. Shirley feels stuck in a rut and finds solace in her daily glass of wine as she muses over the lack of excitement in her life.

When her best friend asks her to go to Greece with her for 2 weeks, Shirley jumps at the chance with a mix of exhilaration and jittery nerves. Leaving a note for her husband that simply reads "Gone to Greece - Back in two weeks", Shirley leaves for her holiday. While relaxing on holiday, she rediscovers the woman she used to be and the happiness that she has been missing. Shirley embarks on a passionate affair with Costas, a local Greek man, and realizes that there is more to life than the dull, mundane existence she leads back home in Liverpool. Making a radical decision, she leaves her friend at the airport and goes back to the hotel she has been staying at to ask for a job. Finally, she is living the life she has dreamed of and rediscovered the self-confidence she has lost.

VR Theatrical presented 2 sold-out performances of the production before the Covid-19 Pandemic caused theatres to be closed. The production was directed by Gina Shmukler and stars Natasha Sutherland, one of South Africa's top TV and stage actresses in the title role and was set for a sold out season in Johannesburg before being forced to close.

Director Gina Shmukler is a seasoned and well-travelled theatre practitioner. She works as performer, director and producer and has garnered numerous awards. Gina holds a Masters Degree in Drama from the University of Witwatersrand and is the proud recipient of the Dr Sibongile Khumalo Creative Research Award as a result of a play she created called The LIne, which garnered fi ve Naledi Theatre award nominations including Best South African Script and Best Production. Other directing credits include THE LINE, iNje, LOST IN THE STARS, The Market Theatre's BRER RABBIT, BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, THE WHOLE MEGILLA and SERIOUSLY?. She also served as script writer on ECLIPSED at the Market Theatre Laboratory. Gina is the creative director on many corporate events where she conceptualizes, directs, facilitates, writes and curates.

Born in KZN Natasha Sutherland has been in the SA creative industry for over twenty fi ve years. Crossing between theatre and screen mediums she has portrayed a number of colourful characters including a pirate queen, a snooping journalist, a controlling mother, Cinderella, a mistress and a wife. She has worked for PACT, Pieter Torien Productions, Kickstart Productions, and the Market Theatre's 2017 Children's Monologues directed by James Ngcobo. Natasha has most recently been in 'The Revlon Girl' directed by Steven Feinstein, as well as 'Brutal Legacy' directed by Lesedi Job. In 2019 Natasha received the Mbokodo Award for Theatre, as well as a Naledi Best Actress Nomination for her role in The Market Theatre's 'Meet Me at Dawn' starring alongside Pamela Nomvete. Natasha is delighted to be portraying Shirley Valentine and hope to spread some much needed positive vibes to South Africans in these trying times.

The creative team is as follows: Presented by VR THEATRICAL; Directed by Gina Shmukler; Set Design: Nadine Minnaar; Lighting Design: Oliver Hauser; Sound Design: Wessel Odendaal; AV Design: Jaco van Rensburg

Photo Credits: Ryno Steyn

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