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Whatsonstage.com Club Outing to Shirley Valentine

Editorial Staff
London's West End

Last night a group of 125 Whatsonstage.com theatregoers ventured through the rainy deluge to the Trafalgar Studios. The fight against the inclement weather was, however, more than compensated for by Meera Syal’s outstanding performance in Shirley Valentine. This one woman show, a transfer from the Menier Chocolate Factory, is being performed alongside Educating Rita as part of the Willy Russell season.

Meera Syal more than filled the role of Russell’s comic heroine, who combines the laugh-out-loud funny with the achingly poignant. The show sees the Liverpudlian Shirley move from being a couped up chip-cooking housewife to a cocktail waitress in a beach-side Greek taverna, her journey from one to the other peppered with humorous anecdotes. Syal’s comic timing was always spot on – especially so when she encountered unexpected prop hiccups!

Theatregoers were also treated to a post-show question and answer session with Syal and Glen Walford, the show’s director. The discussion included topics such as the techniques Syal used to learn the incredible two hour one-woman show, the playing of multiple characters and the relevance of Shirley’s story for a modern audience.

Please do feel free to email your comments and thoughts about the play, as well as any photos you have of the event and the evening through to feedback@whatsonstage.com, we love to hear from you.

Thanks for joining us for this event, and do check the homepage to keep up to date on all of our upcoming Outings.

– Helena Rampley