Review: SHIRLEY VALENTINE, The Duke Of York's Theatre

Willy Russell's Shirley Valentine is nearly forty years old and, despite being firmly set in the 1980's, its issues of loneliness, bravery and the need for personal fulfilment still resonate deeply.

Russell places a working class Liverpudlian mother as the centre of the play; one who has raised her children, cleaned the house and now has a relationship with her husband that is so stale that she talks to her kitchen wall as a release.

Despite bringing in other wonderfully realised characters, such as the school sweetheart turned high-class hooker Marjorie Majors and smooth-talking Greek taverna owner Costas, Shirley is the heart of the play; this is her story of escaping to a Greek island to find herself again.

Having seen many Shirleys over the years, Sheridan Smith is a brilliant choice; warm, witty and honest in her vulnerabilities. Her Scouse accent is light, but consistent and she jumps between other characters' accents with ease. Her version of supercilious neighbour Gillian is particularly well done.

Russell's writing is inherently very funny and Smith mines every last drop of comedy. Often she tackles the show more as if she is performing a very slick stand-up routine, rather than a play. The audience is her confidente and she revels in the reactions, more than once fighting not to corpse. This interaction seems to galvanise her performance; this is a role she seems born to play.

The genius of Russell's writing is never more in evidence than his approach to the insidious nature of the creeping passage of time. It is both deeply sad and very funny in its poignancy. His ability to write women remains astounding.

In other ways, society has shifted; many women are no longer dismissed out of hand when they hit the age of 42 and The Milk Tray Man is no longer capturing the zeitgeist, but director Matthew Dunster ensures that the audience's investment in Shirley never dips. The chips and egg get fried, tea towels are folded and counter-top are wiped down. Smith does all these things with the air of someone who has done them all a thousand times before; you really feel her weariness and boredom at the unrelenting repetition of her life.

Paul Wills design is simple; an 80's kitchen with cream and brown Hotpoint appliances and original Fairy Liquid bottle, while Lucy Carter's overly bright lighting design depicts the blinding light of a Greek beach.

It would be easy to dismiss this play as old fashioned and sentimental, but that would be to ignore the genuine heart within the play: it is the warmth of Smith that grabs you and stays with you long after you leave the theatre.

Shirley Valentine is at The Duke of York's Theatre until 3 June

Photo Credit: John Wilson

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