Shirley Valentine - Duke of York's

[matty]

Absolutely loved this tonight. Sheridan really was fantastic, I got completely drawn in to her story.

Had a cheap seat in the upper circle, but didn't feel disconnected at all. My lega did by the end of the night though! This reminded me why I usually splash out at a bit more at this theatre

[A.Ham]

Just taking a further look at the ATG site tonight, on various dates across the run, and there’s a lot of extra tickets that’ve been released, compared to when I was looking at the weekend and yesterday.

Looking at pricing though I think this is ATG getting ahead of the expected rave reviews, as anything half decent is now top price for most of the shows I looked at. Stalls back to row O or P (and right to each side) are all £95, and just the last couple of rows of the dress circle are £75, with the rest all at £95. There’s a few exceptions so carefully check as many dates as you can before booking.

Looks like they’re anticipating a hit and aiming for a big box office too. So well done if you booked early!

[alece10]

Nice 4* reviews from The Times, Guardian and WOS.

And apparently box office record for Duke Of Yorks theatre broken with £4 million advance sales.

[Steve]

Just looked through the Reviews:

5 Stars

The Independent
The Daily Mail
Financial Times
All That Dazzles
Jonathan Baz

4 Stars

The Guardian
The Telegraph
The Times
WhatsOnStage
Time Out
The Upcoming

3 Stars

Evening Standard
The Stage
London Theatre

My understanding is that the consensus is that Sheridan Smith delivers a 5 Star performance in a 3 Star play, this delivering a 4 Star Average Review.

The low rating of the play stems from it's "dated" view of women's lives (42 is not old these days, everybody understands the clitoris now, this is a play about a woman written by a man).

In defence of the play, I would argue that even if some elements are dated, the key takeaways (Carpe Diem, Everyone has value) are not.

If we judged works by how "dated" they are, rather than what they are telling us, we'd sling Jane Austen's works on the pyre, for starters, as women don't hang around waiting for a man to save them these days. But we don't, because we are capable of reading such works through the prism of the time in which they were written, and not only learning about that time, but also extracting the valuable insights that are universal.

Same here. The dated stuff tells us how far we have come since the eighties, and allows us to see the world as it was seen then, and the timeless undercurrents remain as valuable as they ever were.

In my opinion, it would be a shame to allow the label "dated" to stiff us out of seeing a truly magnificent performance in a play that is timeless in it's thrust, even if the setting is dated.

[lynette]

I haven't seen this production which actually sounds rather good but isn't the point of it that Shirley rebels and toddles off etc etc… contrast and compare with The Doll’s House. Well, life’s too short but you get my drift.

[A.Ham]

The dynamic pricing on this is shocking. I guess the booking pages are getting lots of hits following the good reviews that’ve been published today, and despite loads of seats being raised from £75 to £95 earlier this week, they’ve gone up again - £125 now!! Even the restricted view ones at the far sides of the dress circle are up to £95 now. Unreal!

[Being Alive]

Very much a 4 star production (5 star performance 3 star show) - Time Out as ever gets it spot on

[Deleted]

Does "everybody understands the clitoris now"? How is this even assesses lol?

[Deleted]

Those who’ve seen this: if I go for a £75 stalls or dress circle aisle seat (‘discounted’, ha ha, for potential restricted view) - just how much of the show would I miss, do you reckon?

[mattnyc]

99.5% of the show is her center to mid-center stage. Only rarely does she go to the extreme sides and then when she does it’s only for a brief second.

[Deleted]

Mar 5, 2023 19:40:18 GMT mattnyc said:

99.5% of the show is her center to mid-center stage. Only rarely does she go to the extreme sides and then when she does it’s only for a brief second.

Thank you! Reckon I’ll go for it then.

[A.Ham]

Yep, agreed with Mattnyc, she’s not at the sides a lot. If you’re going for one side or other of the auditorium, I’d err to the left (low numbers side), depending on availability of course.

[A.Ham]

I saw this on Saturday night, and have to say all the positive comments on here and in the press reviews are justified. Sheridan is just perfect as Shirley - there’s a genuine connection with her and the audience that makes it a wonderful performance. Will post a fuller review when I get chance but it’s definitely a must see!

[ladidah]

Wish I had booked this when it was cheaper!

[theatrefan77]

They don't seem to be doing day seats which is a pity. I thought they would

[Mark]

Worth checking Seatplan/Encore and the likes, managed to get a "restricted view" seat on the far side of row F stalls for next week for £30. Wasn't showing on ATG (who have the same seat on sale for other dates at £75!) From what I gather, most of the play takes place pretty centrally.

[zahidf]

Mar 9, 2023 11:34:18 GMT Mark said:

Worth checking Seatplan/Encore and the likes, managed to get a "restricted view" seat on the far side of row F stalls for next week for £30. Wasn't showing on ATG (who have the same seat on sale for other dates at £75!) From what I gather, most of the play takes place pretty centrally.

Thanks for the tip, got a good circle seat for £30.00 ( not marked as restricted!)

[zahidf]

This was great! Wonderful performance by Sheridan Smith

30 pound Row D dress circle seat a bargain, completely clear view of it all!

[fluxcapacitor]

For those who have seen this, has the text been updated at all? I've seen many productions of Shirley Valentine and it's a very strong script, but there are a few sections which might feel dated in a production not 1980s-based which this looks like.

[zahidf]

Mar 13, 2023 9:57:06 GMT fluxcapacitor said:

For those who have seen this, has the text been updated at all? I've seen many productions of Shirley Valentine and it's a very strong script, but there are a few sections which might feel dated in a production not 1980s-based which this looks like.

no updated script but really didnt feel dated

[bram]

Another excellent performance from S Smith. Every emotion is explored veryfunny. Very touching.

[Dr Tom]

I saw this last night and thought it was excellent. I can strongly recommend the £10 standing positions. I had a very clear view, better than I'm sure than most of the Upper Circle seats. It helped, as well, that there were only three of us standing last night and the other two were at the other side (you're in front of the two shorter back rows, which divide the space). Plus, it's a short show, and you're in prime position for a bar seat during the interval.

I've never seen Shirley Valentine before, but it is perfectly structured and very witty. You get a perfect view of the cooking, as well. I wonder who gets to eat the results every night?

[dannimaria]

I saw this last week, and as someone who neither liked nor disliked Sheridan Smith and was altogether 'meh' about her, I was very pleasantly surprised. She was very funny, touching, warm and for me it really spoke to women of a certain age <cough>. She really made you feel all the emotions and I now get all the fuss about her. I also definitely wanted egg and chips after!

It's a really solid performance and given the chance I'd watch it again. Can I still dislike her singing though ;-)

[Deleted]

I don't think I've ever found a production of Shirley Valentine lacking, but this was a particularly lovely marriage of material and actor. This is one of those plays that I think of as "comfort food," and I'd love to see a theatre run with a rotating cast of delightful gentle divas taking on the role.

[starlight92]

Can anyone tell me how much the programme costs if you buy it at the theatre? It's £5.50 if you pre-buy it online when you book your ticket, so just wondering how much you save.