Shirley Valentine and One for the Road by Willy Russell

Shirley Valentine and One for the Road by Willy Russell

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Summary

Part of the "Modern plays" series aimed at the burgeoning readership of young theatregoers, this title and five others are reissued, representing the range and vitality of the list of 170 titles in print .

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Shirley Valentine and One for the Road by Willy Russell

Shirley Valentine, 42-year-old put-upon mother and housewife, leaves the drudgery of cooking dinner for her husband, packs her bags and heads for the sun. The note on the kitchen table reads "Gone to Greece back in two weeks." "It is a simple and brilliant idea...the profound and perennial point of the comedy is the problem we seem to have contemplating the idea of a woman alone - in a pub, on a beach, in a restaurant. This is what Shirley learns to combat as she unravels her own sexual and social identity. The play is not only funny, it is also moving." (Michael Coveney, Financial Times) One for the Road "starts...with the mid-life hero torn between the security of married life in a dormer bungalow on a northern housing estate and dreams of being a rucksacked super-tramp. Mr Russell writes with knowledgeable venom about a world where Beethoven Underpass leads to Wagner Walkway and where anyone who doesn't join Weight Watchers or the Ramblers Club is regarded as a social deviant." (Francis King, Sunday Telegraph)
Willy Russell's plays.. speak to even the critical heart.' Libby Purves, The Times, 28.07.10 'When Shirley blossoms on her sneakily planned Greek holiday, her feminimity unfurls disarmingly, and there are moments of pathos throughout.' Henry Hitchings, Evening Standard, 28.07.10 'You peer into these windows onto other lives, and see your own world partially reflected back at you. Highly recommended.' Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph, 29.07.10
One of the most-produced writers of his time, Willy Russell (b. Whiston, Liverpool, 23 Aug. 1947) is a playwright and songwriter. He has written a large number of highly successful plays and musicals for stage and TV including John, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Bert (1974), Breezeblock Park (1975), One for the Road (1976),Our Day Out (television 1977; stage musical version 1983), Stags and Hens (1978; filmed as Dancin' thru the Dark, 1990), Educating Rita (1979), Blood Brothers(1981; musical version 1983), and Shirley Valentine (1986). His novel, The Wrong Boy, was published to great acclaim in 2000.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780413189509
ISBN 10 0413189503
Title Shirley Valentine and One for the Road
Author Willy Russell
Series Modern Plays
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Year published 1988-08-11
Number of pages 112
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.