By Tom Dayton
Photos by Pat Shortall
If memory serves me right, I saw my first production of Shirley Valentine in 2016, in the City of the Tribes. Galway was where I received my first pay check as a cub reporter. It was also where I worked as a front of house volunteer at The Town Hall theatre.
Of course this meant seeing top class work on a weekly basis, and for free. (Cub reporters don’t have a disposable income.) Whereas ‘Cathair na dTreabh’ was not my introduction to theatre, it certainly showed me how high the theatrical bar was set.
I was to spend four glorious years in Galway, and basked in the wonderful setting that was the Arts community. From street theatre, to the magic of Druid on Flood Street, An Taibhdhearc, Punchbag and more festivals than the whole of Ireland put together, life was a theatrical peach. However, as a certain Geoffrey Chaucer said “Time and tide wait for no man”.
And so, at the end of 2018, I bid farewell to my Galwegian family, packed by journalists jotter and pen (Apple Macbook) and moved to Graignamanagh in County Kilkenny.
Both my partner and I delighted in the artistic feast that greeted us. Right on our doorstep in Graig’ we have Art in The Open, wonderful concerts in Duiske Abbey and a fantastic Town of Books Fair. A short spin to the city and we experience The Kilkenny Arts festival, Rhythm and Roots, and a host of theatrical, musical and comedy events.
It was while attending a musical event in Ryans on Friary street I got chatting to a man from The Kilkenny Observer newspaper and as the saying goes, one word borrowed another. Since that night I have previewed and reviewed some great shows for that Friary street based newspaper.
Last week I was asked to attend the Willy Russell play ‘Shirley Valentine’ produced by Lake Productions. On the night I attended, the 60 seat Barnstorm studio space was full and I recognised a number of ‘Lake Productions’ actors in the audience. This is my fourth occasion to attend shows by Lake, having previously seen ‘Da’, ‘The Kings of the Kilburn High Road’, and ‘Moll’.
NO SAFETY NET
The heroine in this production is an ordinary middle class English housewife. As she prepares chips and eggs for dinner, she ponders on her life and tells the wall about her husband, her children, her past, and an invitation from a girlfriend to join her on holiday in Greece to search for romance and adventure. Ultimately, Shirley does escape to Greece, has an “adventure” with a local fisherman and decides to stay.
Shirley is played by local actor Clare Gibbs, who according to the programme has been part of the theatre scene for a long time with such shows as ‘Same old moon’, ‘Lend me a tenor’ The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘The loves of Cass McGuire’ as part of her impressive C.V.
However this is a one woman show. No safety net. You walk out on the stage, and when the lights come up there is no place to hide.
This show reminded me of a production of ‘The Hare’, -which I saw recently in Galway- a play by Clare Monnelly and Bob Kelly, featuring actor Úna Ní Bhriain and musician Steve Wickham of the Waterboys.
The one-woman play is about a young woman in rural Ireland and how she deals with being isolated by her friends, while also exploring how best to navigate staying sane – examining if she’ll yield to her innate wildness or deal head-on with a supposedly civilised world that rejects her. Different countries, different scenarios but similarities nonetheless. Certainly being alone on stage the common denominator
A LONELY WORLD
My best description of taking on a one person show is that of being lonely and living at the edge of the world. There are two reasons that not many theatre companies take on such productions. There is a strong possibility that your box office will suffer, as people can be hesitant about attending such performances. The second reason is that not too many actors are brave enough to take on such a project. Not, it would appear, for Lake. Let me cut to the chase. Gibbs was brilliant. It is not a word I use lightly. From the minute she arrived on stage she took ownership of it. She was there to tell the story of Shirley Valentine, and by God did she tell it. If you will allow me to digress for a moment. There is a man in Graignamanagh with whom I attend hurling matches, and if his team is winning he will bellow “G’wan boys. Drive her home”. The Gibbs performance did just that. Her pace, movement and belief in what she was relating was as good as I’ve seen. This is a clever, smart humane and funny play with a fair dollop of the serious side of life thrown in for good measure. Gibbs portrays Shirley as a warm friendly character. She is likeable and funny. It was a real pleasure to see both sides of this actor as she transformed from the bleak Shirley Bradshaw to the new and vibrant Shirley Valentine. I think everyone in the audience felt somewhat of an inner glow as we watched the new look Shirley as she basked in the love and revival of her new self in Greek holiday mode. It is fair to say that the audience delighted in the new world that the character found. Perhaps there is a bit of Shirley in all of us, wondering at times if change needed. In her programme note, Emily Kelly writes: “Shirley encapsulates the universal struggle many individuals face in feeling trapped in mundane routines and yearning for a sense of purpose. It was difficult to believe that Clare Gibbs is an amateur actor. Her vibes during her 90 minute performance were of the professional kind. What stood out in particular during this one woman show, as she spoke of different characters, daughter, friends, husband, and ‘Christopher Columbus’, you could actually see them on stage, such was her powerful description. Possibly the best way to sum up the performance by Clare Gibbs is to say she was ‘lost in the performance’. Her portrayal was so real and immersive that the audience forgot they were watching an actor and instead felt they were witnessing the actual events or person being depicted. For me, it doesn’t get better than that.
TEAM WORK
Just as the performer Clare Gibbs was new to me, so too was director Mary Cradock. However, a look at the programme note on Cradock shows a long involvement in Kilkenny theatre both as an actor and director. One can only assume that these two worked very closely to produce this magical production. There wasn’t a seat available during the four night run and according to the box office, there was a big demand to run some extra shows. Who knows? Perhaps a re-run at a future date? If it is advertised in the future make sure to book a seat. Lighting and sound was by Brendan Maguire. Set design and decoration was by Siobhán Hegarty and Alice Power. Stage managers: Emily Kelly and Dee Gibney.
Great work entirely.
