“I can see it changing people’s lives as I’m performing it.”
That’s what Sarah Quick, co-founder and artistic director of Globus Theatre in Bobcaygeon, says about the play Shirley Valentine. It’s evident she holds the one-woman show and its heroine, who she will be portraying for the fourth time in her career this month, near and dear to her heart.
“Even if you’ve seen it before, it’s a story that you want to see again because it resonates differently with you depending on where you are in your life,” Quick says. “It can spur you into making a big life change, it can make you feel good for having made those big changes in your life, or it could just make you feel very happy with what you have. Either way, it resonates with you.”
Directed by Globus Theatre co-founder and artistic producer James Barrett, Shirley Valentine will transport audiences first to a 1980s kitchen in Liverpool and then to the sunny climes of Greece for 11 performances from Wednesday, August 13 to Saturday, August 23 at the professional theatre company’s venue at 2300 Pigeon Lake Road in Bobcaygeon.
Written by widely celebrated British playwright Willy Russell in 1986, Shirley Valentine takes the form of a monologue by a middle-aged working-class housewife in Liverpool before and after a life-changing trip abroad.
The award-winning play was also turned into a hit British romantic comedy-drama film in 1989, directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Pauline Collins and Tom Conti.
The play opens with Shirley talking to the wall while cooking the popular British dish of eggs and chips, offering the audience a glimpse — with an edge of English humour — of the dread and stagnation she is experiencing from working a job she doesn’t enjoy and living with an emotionally distant husband. Shirley longs for adventure.
“It is a life that a lot of people can relate to in either one of those aspects or all of them, and the difference with Shirley is that instead of just moaning and wishing for something to change, she makes it happen and the change is enormous,” Quick says.
When Shirley gets the chance to swap the grey skies of Liverpool for the sunshine of Greece on a two-week trip with a friend, she jumps at the chance. What she finds is a whole lot more that she expects — including a new zest for life and a new love interest.
While Quick describes the story as a “girl-power piece of feminist literature,” she adds “everybody over the age of 14 should see it” because of its universal themes.
In a Shakespearean-style substitution, Russell himself has even stepped into Shirley’s shoes. Shortly after the play premiered at The Everyman Theatre in Liverpool in 1986, lead Noreen Kershaw landed in the hospital due to peritonitis. With no understudy, Russell played Shirley for three weeks to sold-out audiences.
“It became this bizarre theatrical event,” reads a statement from Russell on his website. “I was going on every night playing to packed houses and just asking them to believe that this six foot, bearded male was a forty two year old woman.”
Quick — as a woman and one hailing from northern England near Liverpool, no less — is obviously more suited to the role, and it’s one she continues to relish playing.
“Shirley is such a heroine and empowering of women,” says Quick. “Our humour, our sensibility, our turns of phrase — those are all very similar, so I enjoy playing her and it comes quite naturally to me. I also enjoy representing northern England.”
Quick’s comfort in the role has led her to perform in three previous productions, including at Globus Theatre in 2013 and 2021 and for the 40th anniversary season at the Upper Canada Playhouse in Morrisburg in 2023. The restaging of the production at Globus Theatre during 2021’s pandemic-restricted season resulted after a survey of patrons determined it was the most requested show.
“The reason we keep on revisiting it is that it’s just such a fantastic piece of theatre that really resonates with people,” Quick explains. “What happens is people come and watch it and they want to bring people back to see it. Every time we do it, we have people travelling from all across Ontario that follow the show almost wherever it is.”
While Quick maintains that Shirley Valentine is “definitely up there as people’s favourite show” over Globus Theatre’s 22 years of providing professional theatre in the Kawarthas, she doesn’t take the credit. She instead attributes the play’s success to the story, where her character offers humorous, heartfelt anecdotes, and observations that make even the secondary characters — who never appear on stage — come to life.
“Although it’s a one-woman show, she paints the other characters so clearly and tells their stories,” says Quick. “As I’m chatting about them, they’re taking shape as well. Shirley’s recounting anything from the most mundane stories to these wonderful life-changing moments. It’s a whole gamut of experiences.”
In the first scene of the monologue, the audience is immersed into Shirley’s home life as Quick literally washes, peels, and chops potatoes on a set complete with running water and a deep fryer. It evokes the nostalgic kitchen sink drama, a popular genre from the 1980s and earlier that focused on working class life.
“It feels very natural, like we are literally letting people into our kitchen and we’re just having a conversation with them,” Quick says. “In such an intimate theatre, the front row is just a couple of feet away, so it’s like we are making chips and eggs for them. That all adds to the reality.”
“We want to take people out of the theatre and into that kitchen in 1980s Liverpool and hear a story from Shirley, who represents so many people of that era of that geographical location — a story that continues to be so relevant today.”
Though they will not be dining on chips and eggs, patrons who purchase pre-show dinner tickets can expect to enjoy some English and Greek cuisine amongst the three-course dinner of appetizers, entrée, and dessert, which will be paired with a themed cocktail.
For those who have already seen Shirley Valentine, Quick assures there’s always a reason to see it again
“Even ten years later, all of a sudden you’ve made some changes in your life — you’re at a different age or a different stage of your relationship, and you see the story differently,” says Quick. “It’s also one that people will come back to within the same week.”
Shirley Valentine runs at 8 p.m. from Wednesday, August 13 to Saturday, August 16 and again from Tuesday, August 19 to Saturday, August 23, with additional 2 p.m. matinee performances on Saturday, August 16 and Thursday, August 21. An optional dinner is available at 6 p.m. before the evening performances.
Tickets are $50 for the show only or $100 for dinner and the show, plus tax and fees, and can be ordered online at www.globustheatre.com/shows-all/shirley-valentine or by calling the box office at 705-738-2037 (toll free at 1-800-304-7897).
This branded editorial was created in partnership with Globus Theatre. If your organization or business is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.
