Shirley Valentine

Shirley is a Liverpool housewife. Her kids have left home and she makeschips and egg for her husband while talking to the wall. Where has her life disappeared to? Out of the blue, her best friend offers her a trip to Greece for 2 weeks and she secretly packs her bags. She heads for the sun and starts to see the world and herself very differently. Read more …

Willy Russell’s heart-warmingcomedy premiered in 1986 and took the world by storm. It was adapted into an Oscar nominated film. Now, on its 30th anniversary, Jodie Prenger stars in the first major revival of this national treasure.

The critical consensus

A British theatre classic and deservedly so.

(*) Lauren Humphreys, The Reviews Hub, 03/05/2017

Widely regarded as a classic, Shirley Valentine is storytelling at its finest.

(*) Natalie O'Donoghue, Broadway World, 03/05/2017

Three decades on, this story of the put-upon housewife, who again “falls in love with the idea of living”, still resonates with audiences.

(*) (*) Paul F Cockburn, Broadway Baby, 05/05/2017

As with ‘Educating Rita’, it’s the pathos that’s buried in the humour that really connects the audience to the character.

(*) Justine Blundell, Edinburgh Guide, 31/05/2017

Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine is a text open to all. While its Liverpudlian roots are clear, between Russell, Prenger and Glen Walford’s directing, this is a fresh Shirley, your Shirley.

(*) Dominic Corr, The Reviews Hub, 31/05/2017

Judie Prenger might not have created the definitive Shirley Valentine, but she is very much her own Shirley Valentine and one who is as capable of raising a tear as a laugh and note of reconciliation as one of division, in a solidly entertaining night out.

(*) (*) Thom Dibdin, All Edinburgh Theatre, 31/05/2017