By Geoff Rose
When in 1988 Liverpool playwright Willy Russell sat down to write Shirley Valentine, which Lake Productions will stage in the Barnstorm space at the Home Rule Club from July 24 to 27th, the playwright was tapping into the oldest form of storytelling in the world of theatre, the one woman/man solo performance.
The tradition of the Seanachaí or storyteller goes back to the foundation of early forms of theatre in Ireland.
Here in Kilkenny the tradition has been carried on for the past 40 years by “The Man from Kilmanagh”, Jim Maher, who has kept the spirit of the tradition alive with his storytelling stories and musical interludes.
In the late 1960s the actor Michael Mac Liammoir celebrated the work of Oscar Wilde with his solo show “The Importance of being Oscar”, to worldwide audiences, and Marie Kean (Mrs Kennedy, from the radio serial The Kennedys of Castleross) scripted by Hugh Leonard, brought her one woman show “Soft Morning City” to the Friary Hall Kilkenny.
During one of the many Summer Theatre seasons held in Kilkenny in the 1980s, local actor Ann Aylward (nee Hurley), presented her own one-woman show ‘I Remember It Well’, as well as Heno Magee’s Red Biddy, and one of Kilkenny’s finest male actors Donal O Brien, performed Myles na gCopaleens “The Brother” to great acclaim for local audiences.
In recent times Seamus O Rourke has performed “Indigestion” in the Home Rule Club to sold out performances.
In recent years, Kilkenny man Jimmy Rhatigan’s tribute to the poet and novelist Patrick Kavanagh, Where Old Ghosts Meet, adapted for stage by Geoff Rose has been successfully performed here in Kilkenny.
Lake Productions staging of Shirley Valentine , the story of a middle-aged housewife whose life is transformed after a holiday in Greece, will not be the first time they have staged a solo show having previously produced “After Sarah Miles” by Michael Hilliard Mulcahy, performed by Michael Hayes and directed by Mary Cradock.
This production of Shirley Valentine will feature the vastly experienced Clare Gibbs in the role of Shirley with Mary Cradock once again taking on the role of director.
Willy Russell was born in Liverpool in 1947 to a working-class family, his father worked in a factory and his mother was a nurse.
After leaving school he worked as a hairdresser and took other odd jobs including working in a warehouse. But being a hairdresser was not for him and by his own admittance “a job I didn’t understand and didn’t like”. He began to write songs and sketches and returned to college at age 20 and trained as a teacher.
After graduating, he eventually worked in the Toxteth area of Liverpool.
One of his early plays paid tribute to local heroes The Beatles, called “John, Paul, George, Ringo….and Bert”, proved to be incredibly popular, running for 8 weeks at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre.
Another of his plays “Educating Rita”, about a working-class woman who wants to study for a degree at the Open University, was staged in 1988 and both it and Shirley Valentine were made into popular films that were nominated for Academy awards.
“Blood Brothers” (1986) a musical about twins separated at birth is one of the most popular musical theatre shows, enjoying annual revivals.
Willy Russell’s first novel “The Wrong Boy” was published in 2000 and along with his screenplays for film and his writing for television, he has maintained a prolific and diverse writing life.
The 77-year-old lives and works in Liverpool, is married, and the father to 3 adult children.
The enduring success of ‘Shirley Valentine’ is a massive testament to his massive popularity with theatre goers worldwide.
It is fair to say that Will Russell is a Seanachaí of the first degree.
Lake Productions will stage SHIRLEY VALENTINE at the Barnstorm studio at the Home Rule Club, Johns Quay Kilkenny July 24 to 27th.
Booking now open. 083 325 0617
