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Overview

Synopsis

Shirley Valentine is a bored, middle-aged housewife, trapped in a stale, loveless marriage. Her children are all grown up and she frequently talks to the wall in her kitchen while preparing her husband’s regular evening meal of egg and chips. Shirley feels stuck in a rut and finds solace in her daily glass of wine as she muses over the lack of excitement in her life. When her best friend asks her to go to Greece with her for 2 weeks, Shirley jumps at the chance with a mix of exhilaration and jittery nerves. Leaving a note for her husband that simply reads “Gone to Greece--Back in two weeks”, Shirley leaves for her holiday. While relaxing on holiday, she rediscovers the woman she used to be and the happiness that she has been missing. Shirley embarks on a passionate affair with Costas, a local Greek man, and realizes that there is more to life than the dull, mundane existence she leads back home in Liverpool. Making a radical decision, she leaves her friend at the airport and goes back to the hotel she has been staying at to ask for a job. Finally, she is living the life she has dreamed of and rediscovered the self-confidence she has lost.

Show Information

Category
Play
Age Guidance
Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
Number of Acts
2
First Produced
1986
Genres
Comedy
Settings
Contemporary
Time & Place
liverpool, england, 1980s
Cast Size
small
Ideal For
Star Vehicle Female, All-Female Cast, Includes Adult, Mature Adult Characters, Small Cast

Context

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Plot

Characters

Name Part Size Gender Vocal Part

Shirley Valentine

Lead

Female

Spoken

Songs

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A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.

Monologues

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Scenes

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Key Terms

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Themes, Symbols & Motifs

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Guide Written By:

Alexandra Appleton

Alexandra Appleton

Writer, editor and theatre researcher