Shirley Valentine
The Show & Performances
FAST FACTS:
SHOW TIMES:
Evening Performances at 8 pm:
January 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28
Matinee Performances at 2 pm:
January 15, 22, 29
All current COVID-19 protocols practiced.
SHOW RUN:
January 13 – 29, 2023
- Director’s Talk is Friday Jan 20, 2023 – immediately following the performance
- The Preview is on Friday Jan 13, 2023 – it is the final dress rehearsal.
- Running Time: about 1 h 45 min including the 15 min intermission.
LOCATION:
1370 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC. Next to the on-ramp to the Arthur Lang Bridge by Marine Drive and Granville.
TICKET PRICING:
Adults $34.50
Students/Seniors $31.50
Thursday Special –
2 tickets for $50
The Preview is $25
• GST and fees are additional
* Group Discounts available by calling the Box Office 604 266 7191
Tickets can be reserved by calling the Metro Box Office 604 266 7191
BOX OFFICE WINDOWS HOURS: 6:30pm on Performance Days.
BOX OFFICE OPENS:
Wed – Sat 2 pm to 5 pm
604 266 7191 voicemail or Contact Us form below can be used at other times.
LICENSED LOUNGE HOURS:
Performance Evenings – 7:00 – 11:00 pm
Performance Matinees – 1:00 – 5:00 pm
PARKING:
There is plenty of easy parking – in the parking lot, on the street, even ‘All Evening Parking’ for $4 at the Value Liquor Store Lot just up the street from Metro – 1450 SW Marine Dr, Vancouver, BC V6P 5Z9
BUS ROUTES:
We’re close to the Marpole bus loop and on the #10 route. Check out www.translink.ca for transit directions.
CONTACT:
Metro Theatre via the contact form at the bottom of this page for more information, publicity photos, and arrangements for interviews.
Metro Theatre is a non-profit theatre company, dedicated to promoting and developing theatre arts. This is our 60th year of bringing laughter, intrigue and surprise to live audiences.
The Story
“Most of us die..long before we’re dead. An’ what kills us is the terrible weight of all this unused life that we carry around”
So speaks the central character in this one-woman show about a 40- something housewife living in the late 1980s in Liverpool, a city in the North West England, made famous by the Beatles. While in her kitchen preparing her husband’s evening meal, Shirley regales us with stories of her unfulfilled life as she waits hand and foot on her ungrateful and graceless husband and her equally charmless daughter, Millandra. Despite her unhappy lot in life, Shirley describes her circumstances with wry humour which immediately earns her the sympathy of the audience, most of whom can, in some way, empathize with her.
The opportunity to travel to Greece with a friend for a two-week holiday puts her in a dilemma as she debates whether her husband, Joe, can manage without her. On the one hand, she dreams about drinking “a glass of wine in the country where the grape is grown”, and, on the other, she cannot picture herself having the courage to break out of the prison her routine has created for her. Up till then, the biggest adventure in their lives was the annual holiday to the Isle of Man (a 5-hour ferry trip from Liverpool) because Joe refused to go anywhere else, not wanting to fly or leave his comfort zone.
Fortunately for the audience and for Shirley, she does decide to take the leap into the unknown and in the process, she rediscovers the Shirley she once was, while fulfilling her dream of drinking Greek wine sitting by the sea.
Show Page: Shirley Valentine
‘Most of us die..long before we’re dead.
what kills us is the terrible weight of all this unused life that we carry around’
Metro Theatre Vancouver is pleased to present the lovely romantic comedy Shirley Valentine, written by Willy Russell and directed by Alison Schamberger. The play follows Shirley, a middle-aged woman in England, as she juggles the traditional gender roles of her childhood with the new freedoms and choices that women have today. On stage January 13 – 29, 2023.
Shirley is a smart, sensitive, capable woman who has all of those facets ignored in her day-to-day life, finding herself lonely in a marriage that’s long gone off the romantic boil, with no job and kids who have grown up and gone. A friend offering to pay for a trip to Greece gives her an opportunity to make an out of character decision to temporarily ignore her responsibilities and provide herself with some much-needed and long-neglected self-care. There’s a lively girl who was Miss Valentine before she became Mrs Bradshaw to be reclaimed!
Shirley reveals her innermost thoughts to the audience in a part that has about 16,000 words – more than even Hamlet. Whether confiding in her kitchen wall in Liverpool or addressing a rock on the beach in Greece, her uninhibited monologue is an ongoing delight in its honest spontaneity.
“This play explores the wonderful possibilities that are opened up by travel. No amount of virtual reality can substitute for the real experience of eating baklava in a tiny Greek café or dipping your feet in the warm Aegean Sea. “ Alison Schamberger, Director.
The show is double cast, in light of the Covid variants sweeping through our world! We have two wonderful actresses playing the part of Shirley Valentine – Jill Raymond and Tamara Prescott, who will be sharing the performances. Shirley Valentine is directed by Alison Schamberger, with Christie Miller as assistant director, production management by Joan Koebel, and stage managed by Heather Webster. Photo credit to Tracy-Lynn Chernaske.
Tickets: $31.50 Senior/Student or $34.50 Adult (plus GST) can be reserved by calling
the Box Office 604 266 7191 or Purchase Tickets
SHIRLEY VALENTINE Performer’s Schedule
Preview, Friday, January 13 – Tamara
Opening, Saturday, January 14 – Jill
Sunday, January 15 – Tamara
Thursday, January 19 – Tamara
Friday, January 20 – Jill
Saturday, January 21 – Tamara
Sunday, January 22 – Jill
Thursday, January 26 – Jill
Friday, January 27 – Tamara
Saturday, January 28 – Jill
Sunday, January 29 – Tamara
Warnings: Some coarse language and explicit sexual references
Cast and Production Team
CAST (Double Cast – Sharing Performances)
| Character | Performer |
| Shirley Valentine | Jill Raymond |
| Shirley Valentine | Tamara Prescott |
PRODUCTION TEAM
| Director | Alison Schamberger |
| Assistant Director | Christie Miller |
| Production Manager | Joan Koebel |
| Stage Manager | Heather Webster |
| Props/ASM | Allison Kendall |
| Set Design | Warren Johnson |
| Costume Design | Christine Egerton-Ball |
| Lighting Design | Les Erskine |
| Sound Design | Roger Monk |
| Set Dec | Daisy Fung |
| Set Painting | Emily Dotson |
| Technical Director | Les Erskine |
| Assistant TD | Alex Ross |
| General Manager | Les Erskine |
| Head Carpenter | Robin Richardson |
| Publicity | Debra Danny |
| Graphic Design | Barbara LaBounta |
| Costume Liaison | Claire Turner |
| Box Office/FOH | Heather Stewart |
from The Director
Join director Alison Schamberger and the cast of Shirley Valentine immediately following the show on Friday, January 20, 2023 for an informal chat about:
- Why we didn’t adapt this play to present time?
- How having a double cast affects the rehearsal process and performance schedule.
- How having an Assistant Director was a huge help.
After which, the director will open the session up for questions from the audience.
There is no additional charge for the Director’s Talk, just stay in your seats or move up a bit closer to the stage – allowing for social distancing at all times.
The session will last approximately 20 minutes.
Shirley Valentine Video Snippets
A few second out takes by Jill Raymond and Tamara Prescott during their performances of Shirley Valentine. Come join Metro for more of these wonderful performances by these amazing actors.
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In Rehearsal
These REHEARSAL PHOTOS reflect the show from the first readthru to the final rehearsals on the stage leading up to the preview.
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Reviews & Being Said
Huge thanks to Christian Steckler of Review Vancouver for this wonderful #review of #ShirleyValentineYVR.
In part it says:
“This Metro Theatre production is outstanding. The careful direction of Alison Schamberger is crucial to the dynamism of the play, offering natural and realistic action, using the space of the set to hold the focus on an interesting, active Shirley – particularly important in a one-performer piece. And the single performer, Jill Raymond, is spectacular in her portrayal. Her ability to draw the audience into the simple, natural, folksy personality of Shirley is astounding. Raymond executes masterful transitions of mood as she contemplates the people in her life, and the effects they have on her.”
You can read the full article here:
http://reviewvancouver.org./th_ShirleyValentine2023.htm