Shirley Valentine - wise, funny and always acerbic

From the company that brought you Tell Me On A Sunday comes the celebrated one-woman play Shirley Valentine written by Willy Russell. This moving and influential comedy won Russell his third Olivier Award; the previous two being for Educating Rita and Blood Brothers.

Trailblazing Shirley has been changing women's lives ever since the 42-year-old working-class Liverpudlian housewife first appeared, talking to the wall while making eggs and chips for dinner.

Wise, funny, and always acerbic, she started her life full of passion and promise, but this spirit has been eroded by years of putdowns, a loveless marriage, domineering children, and forced complacency. The closest she comes to an actual conversation is telling the kitchen wall, “It's a good job we're not having soup, or else I'd put me head in it and drown meself.”

When her flamboyant friend Jane wins a trip for two to Greece, Shirley uncharacteristically puts herself first and accepts Jane's invitation to join her in the land of olive trees, tavernas and sun-drenched beaches. Joe will have to cook his own dinner.

Much has changed for women since Shirley Valentine was first performed, but her poignant question, “Why do you get all this life, when it can’t be used?” remains as pertinent today as ever. Her journey to living her life fully again is driven by the push and pull between her melancholic longing for a different way of seeing and being seen by her world, and her barbed zest.

And the rest of the story? Come and see Shirley Valentine, directed by JONATHAN WALKER-KANE and starring MEGAN ARMSTRONG-DAVIES for an uplifting tale of liberating re-discovery … with a twist at the end you won’t expect!

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Megan Armstrong-Davies is the founder and director of a Khayelitsha-based children’s home and a lover of all things theatre. Her first production was as a member of the ensemble in South Pacific at Artscape in 2019. This was followed by the lead roles in Showtime (2019), This Moment (2020), Seven Deadly Divas (2021), The Great Gatsby (2022) and most recently in Trial By Jury and Stages Through the Ages, both earlier this year.

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The Avalon Auditorium

District Six Homecoming Centre

(The Old Fugard)

Corner Caledon and Buitenkant Streets, District Six, Cape Town

Booking is through Webtickets: https://shorturl.at/bfh8A

Friday 21 - Sunday 23 February 2025

Fri @ 15:00 and 19:30 | Sat @ 14:30 and 19:30 | Sun @ 14:30 and 18:00 

Running Time: Act 1: 1hr 10mins. Interval: 20mins. Act 2: 40mins.

Age restriction: PG 13. Adult themes and some fruity language.

Tickets: R125.00. Booking is through Webtickets.

Group booking, senior citizen, Smart Shopper,

student and scholar reductions are also available on Webtickets

Host or Publisher Tell Me On A Sunday