Synopsis Shirley Valentine's world is a world of kitchens, cooking and faded dreams. At the age of 42, Shirley feels that her marriage and life are in a rut. Her children have left home and she yearns for romance and adventure. But when a friend invites her on holiday to Greece will she have the courage to swap housework and drudgery for two weeks in the sun?
The Menier Chocolate Factory’s Willy Russell double bill of Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine opened to press last week (8 April 2010, previews from 26 March), where they continue in rep until 8 May. The plays, never previously paired in repertory, “are joined at the theatrical hip”: both are comedic studies of working-class women struggling to escape rigid environments.
In Educating Rita, Rita (Laura Dos Santos), a young, brash hairdresser, has recently discovered a passion for English literature and enrols with the Open University. Her fresh, unschooled reaction to the classics challenges the attitudes of the University and her lecturer Frank (Larry Lamb) who begins to question his own understanding of his work and himself.
In the monologue Shirley Valentine, Meera Syal plays a middle-aged Liverpudlian housewife who talks to the wall whilst preparing her husband’s egg and chips. When her best friend wins an all-expenses-paid vacation for two to Greece she packs her bags, heads for the sun and starts to see the world and herself rather differently…
Michael Coveney on Whatsonstage.com (Rita three stars, Shirley four stars) – “Even though they date from a lifetime ago, Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine and Educating Rita still sound like a breath of fresh air. Never paired before, the Menier revival offers two definitive studies in self-discovery and self-improvement, with two wonderful Scouse heroines … it’s Shirley, directed now, as it was then, by Glen Walford, that strikes me as the better play … Meera Syal is simply terrific as Shirley, combining the forms of monologue, interior reflection, stand-and-deliver comedy and a whole gallery of supporting characters in a rich fruitcake of a performance … It’s an intensely moving play, with great jokes, too. Educating Rita is a little more schematic and Jeremy Sams’ production has condensed the two short acts into one, making this even more obvious. The scenes are sometimes too short for their own good, the punchlines variable, but the performances by Laura Dos Santos as 29 year-old, bright-as-a-button Rita and Larry Lamb as the shambolic alcoholic tutor are completely engaging, and you get a great sense of life experience out-flanking the prescriptive and redemptive virtues of art and education; to make a distinction proves gloriously unworkable.”
Charles Spencer in the Telegraph(Rita three stars, Shirley four stars) – “…Russell is a writer of genuine nobility of spirit, with a rare gift for empathy, observation, and sheer humanity. He has a particular knack for getting inside the minds of women, evidenced in both these plays, and a moving and persuasive belief, that lives can be transformed for the better. Educating Rita strikes me as a truly great play … The humour is superb, with a succession of blissful one-liners and cultural misunderstandings, but the relationship that develops between Rita and her alcoholic tutor, who comes to need her more than she needs him, is also deeply moving. Unfortunately Jeremy Sams’s production isn’t in the same league as the film version … newcomer Laura dos Santos brings a winning vitality and depth of feeling to the role. Larry Lamb however cannot compete with memories of Caine’s performance as the tutor … Lamb needs to dig deeper. I have no reservations at all however about Meera Syal who gives a heart-catching performance as Shirley Valentine … completely infectious. This is a lesser play than Educating Rita, but in Syall’s lovely performance, and Glen Walford’s beautifully judged production, it will glow in the memory of all who see it.”
Fiona Mountford in the Evening Standard(Rita four stars, Shirley four stars) – “Welcome back onstage, Shirley and Rita, you’ve been lost to the cinema for too long. Cherishable as this delightful Willy Russell double bill is, it’s hard not to reflect on the difference 25-odd years makes … it seems quaint that Rita should think her route to salvation lies via Anton Chekhov rather than Simon Cowell … Meera Syal, confidently directed by Glen Walford, sails through Shirley’s potentially daunting monologue … beguiling us with her quiet, cheerful desperation. It’s glorious to watch her glow with contentment in the Greek sunshine of the second half, and we too bask in its, and her, reflected rays. If we don’t quite believe that Larry Lamb has read every volume on those high university bookshelves it doesn’t matter, as lecturer Frank is primarily a benign sounding board for hairdresser-cum-Open University convert Rita. There are plentiful pleasing echoes of Julie Walters-style sparkiness from Laura Dos Santos … Sweet times at the Chocolate Factory.”
Dominic Maxwell in The Times(Rita three stars, Shirley four stars) – “Both plays retain their period setting … but their central dilemmas remain as relevant as ever … Syal’s show is the triumph. She invests this brilliantly witty monologue with all her considerable comic energy without ever short-changing us on the sadness of a middle-aged life in limbo … she relays Shirley’s domestic frustration and foreign liberation with energy and care. There are plenty of laughs here … that great Liverpudlian mix of sentiment and cynicism … affecting, funny and fresh. Laura Dos Santos gives a fluid, lively performance as the hairdresser in Educating Rita. Opposite her, Larry Lamb looks less convinced by himself as Frank … But though Jeremy Sams’s production lacks dynamism early on, the short scenes grow persuasive as the drama sprouts between Rita’s rocky path to finding herself and Frank’s bitterness … Without more sense of Frank’s inner life you’re rarely in much doubt that Rita is taking the right course. But, 30 years on, these snappy lines remain rewarding.”
Ian Shuttleworth in the Financial Times(Rita four stars, Shirley four stars) – “… (Russell’s) writing chimes with ordinary people ... and I mean that not in a condescending way, but in that we are all ordinary people … Russell is unashamed of sentimentality, but he knows that its power lies in its honesty. It’s also grimly interesting to see, up to 30 years on, how un-quaint these tales are in terms of working-class women’s autonomy: neither the hostility of each woman’s offstage partner nor Frank’s covert Pygmalion syndrome seem at all dated … Syal and her director Glen Walford ring some nicely subtle changes, letting us see each step on her journey to self-rediscovery … As Rita, Laura Dos Santos is similarly friendly, without being as brash as Julie Walters in the film version. This is a distinctly human Rita. A human Frank, too: under Jeremy Sams’ direction, Larry Lamb is always friendly towards Rita, never spiky, even suppressing behind smiles his unease and resentment at her growing intellectual assurance … I like these shows, and that I think they speak to all of us.”
Paul Callan in the Daily Express(Rita three stars, Shirley four stars) – “Willy Russell’s comic masterpieces are joined at the theatrical hip. Both are frequently hilarious studies of working-class women struggling to escape rigid environments … Laura Dos Santos displays impeccable comic timing as Rita and combines this talent with an understanding of the pathos that lies behind a young woman aching for self-improvement … I predict a glowing future for the highly-talented Ms Dos Santos … Sadly, though, Larry Lamb’s alcoholic tutor lacks the bitter cynicism the role demands. There was a need to be more shambolic and he even looked too neat … Jeremy Sams directs tightly … Meera Syal gives a memorable performance as Shirley … She brings a touching anguish to the role … There are some great comic lines which are delivered with polish … Although her accent wanders around the north Ms Syal delivers a near-perfect portrayal of a woman rediscovering her soul.”
Kate Kellaway in the Observer – “The Willy Russell double bill at the Menier Chocolate Factory is a treat … Meera Syal is irresistible as Shirley Valentine: warm, communicative and bittersweet. She has the audience eating out of her hand … Willy Russell's play is more than 20 years old, yet it is, spryly directed by Glen Walford, as fresh as Shirley Valentine herself. Educating Rita also retains its charm (though less certainly in places) in an adroitly cut, 90-minute version directed with flair by Jeremy Sams. Larry Lamb convinces as Frank, a genial, condescending, disappointed professor … Laura Dos Santos catches Rita's garrulous curiosity perfectly … What an invigorating delight it is to see these plays together – female companion pieces – with their linked messages about two women finding ways to become themselves.”
Patrick Marmion in the Daily Mail(four stars) – “Now two of [Russell’s] best-known plays have been cheerfully revived … You can't really get a purloined credit card between them, but the better play is probably Educating Rita … In both plays Russell comes across as a cod-feminist who learnt to pamper ladies' egos while working in a hair salon. Still, his formula of self discovery and sexual liberation is a heady one. There is also great wit and wisdom … Moreover, both plays still offer glorious roles. Meera Syal obviously relishes the housewife condemned to making egg and chips for a sullen husband … In Educating Rita, Larry Lamb captures the dowdy lecturer's lush pathos … Laura Dos Santos is an exuberantly wise-cracking foil, providing a blast of fresh Mersey air … We certainly haven't heard the last of her.”
Three months after opening at the Menier Chocolate Factory, the Willy Russell season hits the West End to provide another high profile, surely successful transfer from the Southwark powerhouse.
The pairing of Shirley Valentine and Educating Rita looks more obvious, and more rewarding, than ever. Meera Syal’s perfect performance as Shirley, Saint Joan of the fitted units, exchanging her life of domestic misery for one of Greek Island fulfillment, remains one of brilliant technical accomplishment, now funnier and more moving than ever.
Shirley, directed by Glen Walford, easily out-gunned Rita at the Menier, where the second play had been snipped down to a ninety-minute version; but director Jeremy Sams has restored the full text, and the interval, and the improvement is enormous.
Also, Larry Lamb, shambling and benign though he was as Rita’s Open University tutor, Frank, has been replaced and utterly eclipsed by Tim Pigott-Smith giving a superbly detailed, monumental performance that re-invents the play as a genuine two-hander. Pigott-Smith’s Frank delights in Rita as much as he falls for her, and re-ignites memories of his Old Vic Professor Higgins creating his Eliza before, inevitably, losing her.
Frank’s story, too, comes up in much sharper relief: we care as much about his excessive drinking and frustrated career as a poet as we do about Rita’s progress. The scenes flow more intriguingly, the passage of time is fully plausible (Paul Anderson’s subtle lighting is a key factor), punch lines land properly, and well prepared, at each black-out.
And the chrysalis-into-butterfly progress of Rita is more ambiguous, as Laura Dos Santos, punchy and persistent as the young married hairdresser, cleverly allows us to conclude that her acquisition of the academic lingo, along with the second-hand clothes, is not necessarily all for the best. Her life is enriched, and somehow diminished, by all that exposure to D H Lawrence and William Blake.
Both plays look good on the Trafalgar stage in Peter McKintosh’s designs: Shirley’s kitchen and sun-drenched haven of sand and sky, and Frank’s cluttered office, shelves stacked with books and booze, where Rita comes into her kingdom by denying the expectations of friends and family. These are the most joyous of all feminist plays, brimming with good gags and humanity, and a glorious double whammy for the summer theatre trade.
- Michael Coveney
** DON’T MISS our exclusive Whatsonstage.com Outing to Educating Rita on 2 September 2010 including a FREE programme, FREE drink and our EXCLUSIVE post-show Q&A - click here for details! We’re also running an Outing to Shirley Valentine - including FREE programme, FREE drink and our EXCLUSIVE Q&A with Meera Syal – on Thursday 26 August 2010 - click here for details! **
PLEASE NOTE: The following review dates from April 2010, this production's run at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
Shirley Valentine 4* Educating Rita 3*
Even though they date from a lifetime ago, Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine and Educating Rita still sound like a breath of fresh air. Never paired before, the Menier revival offers two definitive studies in self-discovery and self-improvement, with two wonderful Scouse heroines.
I saw both plays at their first performances - in Liverpool in 1986 and at the Warehouse (in the RSC days, before the Donmar) in 1980 - and it’s Shirley, directed now, as it was then, by Glen Walford, that strikes me as the better play, the more fluent and dynamic in Shirley’s transformation from Saint Joan of the fitted units to the relaxed tavern regular on a remote Greek island.
Meera Syal is simply terrific as Shirley, combining the forms of monologue, interior reflection, stand-and-deliver comedy and a whole gallery of supporting characters in a rich fruitcake of a performance. With all options exhausted, Shirley goes on the trip for the excitement of not knowing what might happen.
It’s this opening herself up to her own life once more that Syal makes so eloquent and moving. “He kissed my stretch marks” is a sign of her victory; it’s not the holiday sex with Costas that does it, but the fact that she stood naked on a boat and plunged into waters that last forever.
Shirley talks to the kitchen wall as she cooks her husband’s fried eggs and chips - gosh, they smell good - and decides to go. In the second scene she’s ready, togged up in a blue suit, only about two hours early for the taxi.
And then Peter McKintosh’s design takes us to the island, with the rock replacing the wall and Shirley seizing the moment. “Most of us die before we’re dead” she says, pinpointing the human tragedy while just managing to dodge it.
It’s an intensely moving play, with great jokes, too. Educating Rita is a little more schematic and Jeremy Sams’ production has condensed the two short acts into one, making this even more obvious.
The scenes are sometimes too short for their own good, the punchlines variable, but the performances by Laura Dos Santos as 29 year-old, bright-as-a-button Rita and Larry Lamb as the shambolic alcoholic tutor are completely engaging, and you get a great sense of life experience out-flanking the prescriptive and redemptive virtues of art and education; to make a distinction proves gloriously unworkable.
I don't think there's ever been a major London revival of this, or Educating Rita, which is a puzzle (as is the fact that an excellent writer like Willy Russell hasn't written much for almost 20 years!) Though the furniture and clothes have dated, the story is timeless and the humour has lasted. How can a man write so well for a woman? Here it's given an impeccable performance by Meera Syal who really does make it her own. How do you command a stage for 100 minutes and make egg and chips whilst you're doing it? (they looked good too; I bet the stage managers fight over who gets to scoff them during the second scene!). Can't wait to see Rita now. - Gareth James
15 Apr 10
Excellent plays both of them and Laura dos Santos was excellent as Rita and as for Meera Syall as Shirley valentine---really excellent. Would recommend both plays and hope they both get full West end transfers - Joe Spiteri
12 Apr 10
The second show of our Willy Russell Sunday was Meera Syal's monologue as Shirley Valentine. It's worth pointing out that the Chocolate Factory has been reconfigured as a thrust stage like the Donmar and this production involves the audience at the sides far better than Educating Rita, which must have left some people staring at actor's backs for long periods. Meera Syal is excellent as Shirley, funny but poignant and it is astonishing that such a perceptive play was wrtitten by a man. Despite that, this is definitely more of a theatrical "chick flick" and therefore not quite as involving no matter how impressive the production. Willy Russell was sitting near us and I wish I had had the courage to ask him what he has been doing for the last 20 years - living off royalties or suffering from massive writer's block? Whatever the reason for his absence it's good to be reminded of the humour and the way he really understands characters such as Rita, Shirley and of course those in Blood Brothers. - David Baxter
05 Apr 10
My heart sank slightly when I realised that this was a one woman show but having experienced it I'm glad I did. Meera Syall is a very engaging performer, we knew she was funny but she is also very affecting in the second part. The audience were absorbed throughout and were definitely rooting for Shirley (or maybe Meera)and as ever Willy Russell provides food for thought. There were a couple of anachronisms which you might enjoy noting. As a one person show, this one stands out.
(My boyfriend wanted egg & chips when we got home, the Menier could make a bit extra by providing this as a post production supper).
- kilburncat
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