There is a marvellous passage towards the end of the first act of Willy Russell’s evergreen monologue. Shirley has told us about her irritating neighbour Gillian, a master at one-upmanship, when unexpectedly she receives a gift from her. Far from thinking herself superior to Shirley, Gillian turns out to be awestruck. Not only that, but she fully believes the lie that the 42-year-old mother of two is about to elope with a lover.
Equally marvellous is the way Helen Carter plays this twist. As she takes on board the way the other woman perceives her, she transforms before us. She grows younger. Some of the weight of midlife drudgery lifts. She sparkles and glows. In Russell’s voyage of self-discovery, she is becoming herself. Goodbye Mrs Bradshaw, hello Shirley Valentine.
In Liverpool, this packs a special punch. The comedy premiered at the Everyman nearly 40 years ago and has now been revived to round off the theatre’s 60th anniversary year. In a programme note, the playwright remembers the terror of driving past a gigantic sign reading “Opening March 86 – new play by Willy Russell” before he had written a word.
Duly, the jokes about finding a squat in Childwall, meeting Liverpool poet Adrian Henri (or Henry Adrian, as Shirley has it), and suffering culture shock on a trip to Chester get a happy laugh of recognition. And Carter has the absolute measure of Russell’s Merseyside rhythms, her manner at once brash and funny. Jokes are a survival tool but laughing is a sign of weakness.
But although rooted in the city, the play reaches far beyond it in its humanist appeal. This is a play for anyone who has felt their youthful ideals slipping away. “Why do you get all this life if it can’t be used?” says Shirley, taking control.
In Stephen Fletcher’s finely calibrated production, Carter draws the audience towards her in a warm, generous performance, majestic not only in its big laughs but in its contrasting moments of vulnerability and tender sentiment – followed, of course, by even bigger laughs.
At the Everyman, Liverpool, until 29 March
