Natalie Bassingthwaighte has taken on an enormous task with this One Person show ‘Shirley Valentine’ where she not only plays the lead (and only) role but she also has to conjure the other characters that are in the movie but absence from the stage as to their relevance to the plot.
‘Shirley Valentine’ is about a bored Liverpudlian housewife who goes to Greece, has a fling and decides to stay and start a new life.
In the 1989 movie, numerous actors play the various characters which gives context to the story. With one actor, Natalie Bassingthwaighte as Shirley Valentine, has too much focus on her character. It difficult for the audience to comprehend the bigger picture of the original story if you haven’t seen the move and it stretches the talents of Bassingthwaighte to and past her limits. Complete scenes in the movie have been reduced to dialogue for the play so be prepared to enact your theatre of the mind.
There are only two scenes. In act one it is the kitchen where Shirley’s conversation is mostly directed to the wall and in act two, Greece, where Shirley talks to a rock.
In all fairness to Natalie, this part is a major task for any actor. Remembering all of this dialogue with no other actors to bounce off is a difficult task for anyone. Natalie has taken on a difficult job with this play and the risk for the producers is that just one actor has to convince an entire audience night after night about authenticity.
Natalie often fell over her lines, forgot some words, left gaps and started anew. Let’s put that down to opening night jitters. But even in a perfectly executed performance I feel this show would be like watching paint dry.
The 1989 movie is a classic. At the time of its release this British rom-com-drama mixed a not often spoken about real life situation with the funny side of life. Pauline Collins pulled off a perfect comedic but serious Shirley. Natalie does not. The movie had a warmth, the play has a sadness to it. The movie was right for the time. The play would have been better served portraying the modern woman, not the modern woman’s mother.
The originally story accurately portrayed a common life of 1989. This story is still set in 1989 but the times have moved on and I’m not even sure a 42 year old from then in 1989 would now identify with this character today. Afterall, Shirley Valentine in 2025 would be 78 years old now. Maybe a 78-year old plus demographic might get this production.
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