Shirley Valentine – Grand Theatre Blackpool

Octagon Theatre Bolton presents a one woman play in two halves, Directed by Lotte Wakeham.

Willy Russell famous for creating Blood Brothers, Our day out and Educating Rita originally wrote Shirley Valentine in the mid-80s, it then became a film. The original version was set in Liverpool. For this touring production, the play has been reset and imagined using the actresses native accent.

Having never seen the film I didn’t know what to expect and quite honestly the thought of watching one actress on stage for such a long time isn’t something I would be keen to watch, however I was pleasantly surprised.

Mina Anwar returning to the role of Shirley Valentine is spectacular, with the very relatable script make her portrayal of the character likeable, she comes across as the salt of the Earth, somewhat similar to Bridget Jones.

She has a wealth of professional training and many credits to her name, including TV roles and various the productions.

All of the action in act one takes place in Shirley’s kitchen, through the clever dialogue Anwar really paints a picture in our minds. The title character is cooking dinner for her husband for the duration of act one, we are invited to glimpse a taste of her life as a housewife, we see her preparing the potatoes and actually cooking live on stage. Talk about multitasking. I cannot even begin to imagine having to learn the amount of script required for this role, Valentine is literally talking completely alone for around two hours.

There’s real light and shade in the text, some of it is so light-hearted and funny, yet we also feel really sorry for her at times.

The attention to detail with the set, and the sound effects were impeccable. Even down to the sound of crickets in the background while she is on holiday.

During act two Shirley had travelled to Greece and the lovely backdrop featuring the Aegean sea and a traditional Greek Taverna really sets the scene.

The show began promptly at 7.30pm running through until 8.45 then an interval followed by another 45 minutes finishing at 9.45pm. I’m  sure that there’s a reason for this, however for me personally the one hour 15 for act one was just slightly too long, as the action is quite static, I was becoming slightly restless.

A lovely touch was the Anwar breaking character after the bow to address the audience and discuss the play, and live theatre.

I’m not sure if there is an age restriction, but some of the dialogue and themes are very adult.

This really is worth a watch, performances run until Saturday 5th April 2025.

Reviewer: Rebecca Casey

Reviewed: 1st April 2025

North West End UK Rating: