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Stage
A valentine to self-discovery
Shirley Valentine is a one-woman show, one of the most demanding endeavors an actor can attempt, and Bridget Bean holds her own.
By TOM VALEO
Published June 7, 2006
Bridget Bean is perfectly cast as Shirley Valentine. She looks 42, Shirley's age, is a little plump and pretty, and she has a girlish gleam in her eye that flashes whenever she tells the audience about some act of mischief, such as her plan to join her best friend on a holiday in Greece, whether her husband, Joe, approves or not. And Bean, also the managing director of Tampa's Gorilla Theatre, where this play runs through June 18, is from England, so she speaks in the lilting British accent essential to any portrayal of this Liverpool housewife, who spends the first scene dutifully frying potatoes ("chips") and eggs and brewing a pot of tea for the modest supper she will share with Joe. But Willy Russell's play, set in 1986, feels a little dated. Though Russell created a vivid, believable woman, the comments he put in her mouth about "women's lib" sound a little worn out today. Still, Shirley's struggle to crack out of the shell that has formed around her after two decades of marriage and motherhood remains relevant. Watching this simple, unassuming woman emerge with fresh self-confidence after being showered with attention from another man is gratifying. But this isn't a romance in which a woman is swept off her feet and fulfilled by the love of a dashing man. On the contrary, the man, a self-styled Casanova, merely serves as a catalyst for Shirley's self-transformation. He helps her recognize what she is already well on her way to discovering: that she can have a life of her own apart from the grouchy husband and the self-absorbed daughter she serves. Shirley Valentine is a one-woman show, one of the most demanding endeavors an actor can attempt, and Bean holds her own. Even a flubbed lighting cue at a recent performance didn't seem to rattle her. She addresses the audience directly (although she's supposedly pouring her heart out to the kitchen wall), and her vivid commentary conjures the presence of other characters, even though they never appear onstage. Bean, however, doesn't quite reveal the deep sadness within Shirley that motivates the character's push toward freedom. Without that, Shirley remains merely charming and endearing, but that's certainly enough to make this play a delight. Review: Shirley Valentine runs through June 18 at the Gorilla Theatre, 4419 N Hubert Ave., Tampa. 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. $20-$25; $15-$20 seniors and students; $10 student rush 30 minutes before show when available. 813 879-2914; info@ gorillatheatre.com.
[Last modified June 7, 2006, 05:25:12]
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