Ojai Valley News
Anna Kotula portrays Shirley Valentine at the Ojai Art Center Theater, Jan. 24 to Feb. 16.
Mrs. Joe Bradshaw feels stuck in the same old house with the same boring old husband. When she accepts an invitation to join a friend in Greece, she discovers somebody she forgot about: her true self, Shirley Valentine. The Ojai Art Center Theater’s 2020 season takes off with this life-affirming production Jan. 24 through Feb. 16.
From Tony award-winning playwright Willy Russell (“Educating Rita” and “Blood Brothers”), “Shirley Valentine” gives hope and will inspire every woman who ever found herself frustrated with her life. Shirley contends with her own empty-nester syndrome, coupled with her husband Joe’s obsessive-compulsive disorder. On a Greek beach overlooking sparkling water, Shirley encounters a vastly different lifestyle complemented by revitalizing romantic spice. a love affair. The experience opens a windows to her actual long-lost identity.
The one-woman show stars Anna Kotula, who worked with director Steve Grumette to combine the depth of a seminal female character with a humorous self-deprecating housewife. Kotula produced the show with Richard Sven Shelgren, and incorporated set design by Bianca Rice.
“I feel deeply grateful to all who came together to bring this production to fruition,” Kotula said. “Because 2020 marks the hundredth anniversary of women’s suffrage. “Shirley Valentine” became an obvious choice, since it celebrates marvelous sensational female independence.”
In a way, Kotula has prepared for this performance her whole life. As a child, she starred in national commercials and attended the Theater Division of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. She graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her influences at NYU drama school included acting classes with Andre Gregory, studying at the Experimental Theater Wing with Kevin Kulke and attending the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute.
In 2015, she played Toad and choreographed the musical, “A Year with Frog and Toad” at the Ojai Youth Entertainers Studio. Since then, she has played numerous characters, including Gooch in “Mame”; Kyra in “Skylight”; George Bernard Shaw’s wife in “Engaging”; a witch in “Macbeth”; Harpo in the musical “Animal Crackers”; and Tanya in “Mamma Mia!” In 2018- 2019 , Kotula portrayed Emily Dickinson in “The Belle of Amherst” in front of sold-out audiences at the Ojai Art Center Theater, the Rubicon theater, and Namba Performing Arts.
Director Steve Grumette brings with him more than 40 years of experience in the motion picture industry where he worked as director, cameraman and editor. His collaborative project, “The Magic Machines,” won a special prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for “Best Live Action Short Subject.” Grumette serves on the Executive Committee of the Ojai Art Center Theater and participated as actor, director and/or technical director in most of the Art Center Theater’s productions during the last 20 years.
Come watch Shirley Valentine, learn to love herself at the Ojai Art Center Theater. The play is a perfect way to revel in the spirit of Valentine’s Day.