SHIRLEY VALENTINE was the inaugural show of West End Productions in 2016. Welcome back Jessica Osbourne. It is ten years since her outstanding performance in the beloved 1986 one-woman play, by Willy Russell, about a middle-aged housewife who escapes her mundane, stagnant life and neglectful husband for a transformative holiday in Greece. Colleen Neary McClure once again directs this heartwarming, comedic monologue focusing on self-discovery, liberation, and rediscovering one’s identity.

‘Shirley’ inhabits her "full-fit" kitchen and makes her husband's supper as she tells us about her life, ‘Joe’, the children, and her friend ‘Jane’, who has just invited ‘Shirley’ to join her on a vacation in Greece. She talks to the wall and the audience as she convinces herself to stay or go. Wine helps to lubricate Shirley's feelings and reminiscences while she makes a mental pro-and-con list. In just two funny and charming scenes we get a sense of a prosaic life and her longing to leave it. (Talkin’Broadway 2016).