Willy Russell’s beloved one-woman play comes to life at Bolton Octagon, with Mina Anwar delivering a heartfelt and hilarious performance that captivates from start to finish. Here, Ian Cheeseman reviews:
Shirley Valentine started life as a play written by Willy Russell, soon after his blockbuster Blood Brothers, and it has the same down-to-earth, accessible humour threaded throughout the story.
Shirley was played by the brilliant Pauline Collins in the 1989 film. Although I’d seen clips from the film version, which also starred Tom Conti, Alison Steadman and many others, I’d never seen the film from beginning to end. I’d certainly never seen the stage version until my trip to Bolton Octagon.
I hadn’t really prepared myself, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially when I read the programme and realised it was going to be a single hander; just one actor on stage. How would this work, how would the story be told?
I needn’t have worried. Mina Anwar, who I knew from her time in the sitcom Thin Blue Line, playing Maggie Habib, opposite Rowan Atkinson, was amazing. From the moment she sheepishly walked on stage as Shirley, she had the audience in the palm of her hand.
The script by Willy Russell is amazing, but Mina delivered it to perfection. Not only was her comic timing spot on, but director Lotte Wakeman had Shirley peeling potatoes and then cooking egg and chips in real time, during the seventy-five minute opening half.
Although I was sat quite well back in the beautiful theatre, the smell of the chips was mouth-watering. This wasn’t done with some slight of hand, she really did fry eggs and produce home cooked chips while perfectly delivering every crisp line of the show. I really wish they’d made the chips available in the interval!
As well as humour aplenty, the story of Shirley Valentine is deeply philosophical and Mina Anwar’s acting gift, meant that you laughed at the simple absurdity of her story but also felt her mental conflict and moral dilemma.
Willy Russell is a writing genius, but the love of the product shown by Mina Anwar is clear to see. She met with Russell to get his permission to amend certain lines, so that the Accrington born actor could set things in Lancashire rather than Merseyside. He gave his blessing and the show is triumph.
Go and see it if you can, it’s at Bolton Octagon until March 8. Tickets can be purchased at https://octagonbolton.co.uk/events/shirley-valentine