Review: Poor Shirley Must Make Her Escape, Union Theatre

Poor Shirley Must Make Her Escape is an inventive and unassumingly polished piece of theatre that plays with a familiar setup, turning it into something joyful, affecting and original. 

The premise is simple: Shirley, a young English woman in a wedding dress, mascara smudged, boards a train in Ljubljana heading for Budapest. She’s joined by friendly but slightly awkward Irish backpacker Kieran. During their long journey, beset by delays, they reveal fragments of their past and dreams of the future. No points for originality there, but in its execution, the play transcends this humble conceit – it’s ripe with twists and devices that will keep audiences engaged until the very last word.

Writer and director Tom George Hammond shows remarkable restraint in revealing the lives of the two main characters. There are no fireworks here, just a steady flame carried to its destination with subtlety, good humour and a firm grasp of real-life drama, supported by nicely orchestrated pacing from its opening note to the touching coda. 

Will Taylor’s standout performance as Kieran is gentle, grounded and utterly compelling from the off. He captures the awkward openness of a young man who seems open to the others’ stories but is still struggling to comprehend his own. His mannerisms are pitch-perfect, bringing robust realism to a character that could merely have been a foil to Shirley’s drama. Kieran’s story may be incidental, but it becomes compelling in his capable hands.  

Maya McQueen as Shirley also gives a strong performance, but at times her delivery feels somewhat stuck in staccato mode and inexplicably over-cautious, stopping her from opening her character up to greater levels of audience empathy. This means that despite Shirley’s story being more central to the plot it’s difficult to place her on an emotional map. It’s hard to say if this is in the writing or the performance but it’s significant enough to warrant a second look from Hammond. 

An unexpected and delightful turn comes with the arrival of a third passenger, played by Daniel Copeland, somewhere towards the closing act of the play. He appears suddenly after a blackout to widespread hilarity, but his role is much greater than that of a comedic counterpoint. His character’s lack of English, whilst played initially for laughs, becomes a symbol of our inability to communicate across generations and even with ourselves. Through him, the play somehow reaches greater poignancy. Copeland transforms again just towards the end in an ambiguous but exquisitely handled moment that ultimately defines the play’s central theme – the desire for each generation to avoid what it sees as the shortcomings of the one that preceded it. 

Reflecting this theme, the set design here is worthy of mention. It’s adorned with suitcases (literal and metaphorical baggage), yet in place of a train window hangs an ornate gilt frame housing a literal blank canvas washed with changing palettes of colour. This is a beautifully concise metaphor of the struggle to free ourselves from our stories as we strive to fill our futures with hope and possibility. It’s a well-executed note that demonstrates the general attention to detail that elevates this production.  

In the programme, writer Hammond describes himself as one of Britain’s least-known playwrights. It’s charming modesty, but the title, real or imagined, may not hold for long. Poor Shirley Must Make Her Escape is a jewel of a play: multi-faceted and appealing. It is well worth escaping to see.  

Written & Directed by Tom George Hammond
Lighting Design by Nurul Wardani & Sammy Kissin
Sound Design by Ella McQueen & Tom George Hammond
Produced by Olivier Sublet & Ella McQueen

Poor Shirley Must Make Her Escape plays at The Union theatre until Sunday 16 November.