Shirley Valentine Tickets

From the end of July 2010 this one-woman show will be returning to the West End, where it won a range of Laurence Olivier Awards back in 1988 and became a classic piece of British Theatre. “Shirley Valentine”, like many of the shows from Willy Russell, centres on the working class struggle and gives audiences some interesting foods for thought during its run-time. It makes it a much-anticipated production when it appears at Trafalgar Studios 1 this summer alongside “Educating Rita” and with Russell’s own “Blood Brothers” continuing at the Phoenix Theatre, there has never been a better time to be a fan of the Merseyside-born playwright.

The show originally ran at the Southwark Street venue the Menier Chocolate Factory earlier in the year, but few shows manage to contain themselves within its walls without the bright lights of the West End calling. So like many of the shows that appeared there before it, it now transfers to Theatreland, following in the footsteps of “La Cage Aux Folles”, “Sweet Charity” and more.

And it brings with it the actress who brought new life to the title role when it appeared in the Off-West End venue – Meera Syal. The comic actor, best known for her appearances in comedy programmes like “Goodness Gracious Me” and “The Kumars at No. 42”, will be the latest version to take on the iconic role and the first since it was last seen in the West End in the 1980s.

She plays the working-class Liverpudlian housewife of the title, slaving away over her husband’s evening meal and standing in front of the same empty wall she faces most evenings. It is a location in which she often finds herself talking to nothing, venting the frustrations and struggles of being a working-class housewife. But this is no ordinary evening and when she hears the exciting news of her best friend winning a coveted holiday for two, she packs her belongings, leaves a note and heads off for a much-needed two-week break in Greece.

Like many of Willy Russell’s works, “Shirley Valentine” has issues of social class running through its veins and alongside both “Blood Brothers”, “Educating Rita” and more, demonstrates the lasting impression of his work.

“Shirley Valentine” is appearing in repertoire with “Educating Rita” at Trafalgar Studios 1 from Monday 26th July 2010 until Saturday 30th October 2010.