Review by Hilary Dawes
Directed by Lotte Wakeham, Mina Anwar reprises the title role in Willy Russell’s heartwarming one-woman comedy. With his blessing, Mina has re-set the play in Lancashire and although now almost forty years since the original production, it still resonates with immense heart and humour.
Housewife Shirley feels stuck in a rut and frustrated now that the kids have flown the nest. Her friend Jane has persuaded her to go on holiday to Greece, and now she’s starting to have second thoughts!
Although ostensibly addressing the wall, Shirley includes every member of the audience in the conversation, with hilarious anecdotes, from her own early school days to her son’s disastrous first nativity play, and encounters along the way with her high school nemesis and her snobbish next door neighbour. Mina Anwar’s expert comedic and mimicry skills make us forget she is alone on stage, as we envisage every character she so vividly describes. But the mood changes, and we realise Shirley is far from happy with her lot, totally unappreciated by her husband Joe and taken for granted by her daughter. As she reflects on her life and opportunities missed, she knows that the trip to Greece is exactly what she needs. But is it right “at her age”? And how to tell Joe? He’ll only talk her out of it.
As she talks, Shirley is preparing Joe’s tea, with potatoes peeled, cut, chipped and cooked, whilst eggs are fried on the hob. Mina’s ability to continue her monologue so naturally, whilst simultaneously producing egg and chips for two was just astonishing!
Three weeks later, after leaving a note for Joe on the kitchen table, Shirley heads off to the sun to discover herself.
In the second act, with a beautiful backdrop of sea and sand, we see a very different Shirley. As she sits on the taverna patio overlooking the sea, she reflects on her experiences in Greece. She has finally found her voice and realised that hopes and dreams don’t have to be locked away - it just takes a little bravery to set them free.
Hilarious and poignant by turns, this story will resonate with many of us, who maybe need to take a page out of Shirley’s book and just be that little bit braver! This is a play which will touch your heart and raise your spirits, thanks to the wonderful script and superlative acting skills of Mina Anwar.
Huge praise must also go to the exceptional creative and stage management teams, for immersing us in Shirley’s world both at home (with those incredible culinary challenges!) and abroad on that sun-drenched beach.
Running at the Octagon Bolton until 8th March 2025.
Visit: octagonbolton.co.uk
Phone: 01204 520661
Octagon Theatre Howell Croft South, Bolton BL1 1SB · 11 mi
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