Shirley Valentine is back
Hedgerow resurrects its one-woman show about a bored '80s homemaker.
The Hedgerow Theatre production of "Shirley Valentine," a one-woman show from the '80s about a bored British homemaker who decides to take a vacation without her demanding husband, is being resurrected at the theater beginning Wednesday. Here's an excerpt from Howard Shapiro's review, first published in June 2010.
In a portrayal that nails the woman, Susan Wefel brings her to life without a trace of self-deprecation; even when Shirley tells us about the way she was treated as a dummy at school, it's the school system and not Shirley that seems at fault. How could anyone call Wefel's Shirley - dying for a challenge, but unsure how to challenge even herself - stupid?
Wefel, who has acted for more than three decades at Hedgerow, in Rose Valley near Media, portrays Shirley without a trace of irony, adding subtle but substantial power to the character, diminished only a little by a few lines she drops when she crunches the words together in her English accent.
At Hedgerow, particularly in the farces the theater has made a trademark, Wefel has a penchant for haughty and dizzy; in Shirley Valentine, she shows a real talent for bringing out the Everywoman dimension of a character who is clearly not everywoman.
Tom Teti, the veteran actor who has built much of his career at People's Light & Theatre Company, directs Shirley Valentine with impressive restraint in the staging. He lets Wefel stay in place for minutes at a time as she spins her stories and commentary, and when she does move from one part of Zoran Kovcic's set to another, it feels natural, as though we had come for tea.
Steven Carpenter and Rachel Alulis light the scenes nicely, and Cathie Miglionico's costumes, quite different in each of the two acts, show first the respectable Liverpudlian in her everyday '80s best, and then a woman whose life may be acquiring a new lease, signed by a more fulfilled tenant.
Shirley Valentine
Playing at Hedgerow Theatre,
64 Rose Valley Rd., Media, through March 13. Tickets: $25. Information: 610-565-4211
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