Shirley Valentine

It’s wonderful to see amateur theatre starting to flourish once again and Portsmouth Players’ choice of Willy Russell’s skilfully written play Shirley Valentine started their Autumn Season (of four very different shows) with a magnificent flourish.

I’ve always felt that the play, presented as a monologue, works rather better than the film, leaving the hard work to the actor and our imaginations. Sheila Elsdon as Shirley, however, showed no fear at the daunting task ahead of her: single-handedly keeping us entranced and entertained for two hours - and remembering an entire script! It’s not the first time Sheila has performed this role, but her performance has been kept fresh by Director Jason Christopher’s addition of sparkle.

With no other characters to interact with, Shirley addresses her kitchen wall as she prepares her husband’s tea of “chips ‘n’ egg” and examines the people she and her husband have become. She wonders what happened to her life and whether she has the courage to break free and go to Greece for a fortnight – and how she will tell her husband. Eventually making it to Greece, Shirley finds the happiness and self-confidence that she had somehow lost in the daily routine of family life, and decides to stay. Although written in the 1980s, the play is still sharply relevant today and turns from raucous comedy highlights to sadly poignant and touching moments in the blink of an eye.

Sheila’s performance is a real tour de force. She positively inhabited all the people she portrayed, especially Shirley, keeping up the excellent Scouse accent and imbuing each person with their own character and accent – even “Wall” and “Rock”. Each of her comic punchlines was timed to perfection and the poignant observations were delivered with due dignity and wistfulness. We weren’t given the chance for our minds to wander as she moved swiftly from one anecdote to the next pondering, taking us all along for the ride.

Jason Christopher’s sets were splendid, evoking the Liverpool kitchen and the Greek beach perfectly. They were well dressed with furniture and props from the correct period and the simple lighting was most effective, with good sound effects completing the picture. The scene changes were well managed by the efficient stage crew.

But an excellent script and a good set are just the starting point for this play. Sheila Elsdon’s mastery of the words and the characters made sure that we were taken on a magnificent roller-coaster ride with Shirley Valentine hoping, along with her, that her dreams would come true and that she would achieve the happiness she so deserved.

This is what we’ve been missing so much over the last eighteen months. Top quality live theatre, right on our doorsteps. It will be a hard act to follow.

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