<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>340820</docID> <postdate>2025-03-21 10:23:23</postdate> <headline>Bassingthwaighte is electric as self-effacing Shirley</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-340740" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Natalie-Bassingthwaighte-as-Shirley-Valentine-2.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Natalie Bassingthwaighte as Shirley Valentine... a compelling performer.</caption> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="kicker-line">Theatre / Shirley Valentine, by Willy Russell, directed by Lee Lewis. At The Canberra Theatre, until March 23. Reviewed by <strong>SIMONE PENKETHMAN</strong>.</span></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Renowned Australian actor and singer Natalie Bassingthwaighte stars in this production of the British comedy, Shirley Valentine, which premiered way back in 1986.</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">It’s a one-woman show that tells the story of a 42-year-old working-class housewife in Liverpool, England. Shirley dulls her boredom and loneliness by drinking wine and talking to her kitchen wall, while cooking eggs and chips for her husband’s dinner.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Simone Romaniuk’s set and costumes show a modest, neat home-life in which nothing much has changed since the 1960s.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The first half of the opening act is sassy and laugh-out-loud enjoyable. Bassingthwaighte is electric as the self-effacing empty-nester who dreams of drinking wine in a country where the grapes are grown.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The tone turns darker as she fears her husband’s return from work and his certain disapproval of the meal.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">But Shirley is planning an adventurous escape. And her formally happy marriage has soured to the point that she can’t tell her husband of her plans.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Act 2 is set in Greece where Shirley rediscovers her younger self and her maiden name, Valentine. There are other discoveries too, including her clitoris – a part of the anatomy that Shirley knows Sigmund Freud believes can only lead to immature orgasms.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The show is a fun journey back in time to a fantasy adventure with echoes of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0NxhFn0szc" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3Dd0NxhFn0szc&source=gmail&ust=1742598440608000&usg=AOvVaw09hv8AU2T76CNmSmkYOFUn">The Ballad of Lucy Jordan</a>.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">But the end signals a deflating return to the status quo.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">When watching a new production of an older play, I always wonder why? What does it mean to present this work now?</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">In 2025, we live in an economy of working women and older mothers. There are very few 42-year-old empty-nesters and even fewer working-class, full-time housewives.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Shirley Valentine is certainly a loveable character and Bassingthwaighte, a compelling performer.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">But when the show closed and a portion of the audience rose to their feet clapping enthusiastically, I noticed that many of them were grey-haired men.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">More of the female audience members, while still applauding, remained seated.</p> </body>