Shirley Valentine

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Rizwan Chaudhry 10R

SHIRLEY VALENTINE

HOW DO THE DRAMATIC TECHNIQUES USED IN THE PLAY HELP THE AUDIENCE TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIRLEY’S TRANSFORMATION?

        The play, ‘Shirley Valentine’, written by Willy Russell tells the story of Shirley Valentine’s life, showing her character transformation from Shirley Bradshaw to Shirley Valentine, it is a play about a stifled middle-aged woman who finds relief abroad from her tedious, routine lifestyle in Liverpool. The dramatic techniques used by Will Russell in the play help the audience comprehend the importance of Shirley’s transformation. In this circumstance, it’s Shirley Valentine and her life. Other dramatic devices used are, voice over, flashbacks, dramatic monologue, pathetic fallacy as well as others. These devices help us to understand Shirley’s character and with this it easier to understand how Shirley has changed

         

    Willy Russell’s authorial context is seen through the character of ‘Shirley Valentine’ and his past experiences of him growing up in a feminine household has influenced this play by being the basis of Shirley’s aspects on life. The social historical context is also from Russell, Russell coming from a working class background and him being born in Liverpool which is where half the play was set. He started of as a hairdresser and from here he got an insight into womens life .He started to attend night class on drama and this is where he picked up his love for script writing. After this he began to write comical songs and then he began to write scripts. His first play ‘Blind Scouse’ was premiered at Edinburgh festival and then in 1990 he wrote ‘Shirley Valentine’. Kitchen sink drama deals with working class people and their everyday lives, and this is related with Shirley as this play deals with her everyday life. Kitchen sink drama relates with ‘Shirley Valentine’ in many aspects and this play may be influenced by kitchen sink drama. ‘Shirley Valentine’ deals with Shirley’s everyday life which is similar to kitchen sink  drama

         

         The opening credits of the film depict cartoon pictures of Shirley doing domestic chores of a stereotypical woman’s life. Willy Russell has used pictures such as Shirley Valentine doing the gardening, hanging up the washing and washing up the dishes. Also, not once did Willy Russell screen a picture of her not doing a household chore, moreover, this is further reflected by the use of contrasting colours, which expresses the mood. The colours chosen by Russell portray a disconsolate atmosphere by the use of dull blue and white. This selection of colours tells us the mood of the cartoon as one of depression, it tells us the cartoon is meant to be gloomy and depressing. Willy Russell has used blue in a dreary way, expressing the emotion of unhappiness and boredom. The film opens with Shirley returning home from her shopping, a routine part of her routine life. As she goes into the kitchen to put her bags away, she leans her back and head against the door and sighs, this goes to illustrate her boredom and exhaustion of what she does for a living. After putting her bags on the table she turns to the wall and says “Hello wall,” which emphasises her loneliness by talking to the wall.

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Throughout the play voiceovers and flashbacks are used. Willy Russell uses these to involve the audience and to give us an understanding of how and why Shirley Valentine has become the person she is in her present day. Another reason for why flashbacks and voiceovers are used because Russell wishes to introduce new characters as well as to tell the audience her thoughts and opinions on these characters, which are usually biased.  In using flashbacks, the audience is able to understand her past and capture all the vital moments in her life in a small period ...

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