IT’S almost 30 years since Pauline Collins made us laugh and cry in the film version of Shirley Valentine — and the middle-aged, bored, desperate-for-adventure housewife is still charming our socks off.

Jodie Prenger, who rose to fame when she won the BBC’s I’d Do Anything, giving her the chance to play Nancy in Oliver!, appears in Willy Russell’s original one-woman show this week at the Wyvern and I’d urge each and every one of you to put down the chips and egg, say goodbye to Wall and go along for a rip-roaring night of entertainment.

While Shirley herself may have aged a little over the past three decades — it’s hard to imagine a 42-year-old housewife these days who would have led such a sheltered existence — the charm of the piece, with its rallying cry to seize the day, has lost none of its wit, charm and poignancy.

It’s no mean feat to command an audience entirely on your lonesome for an hour and 45 minutes, but Prenger does it effortlessly, commanding the stage beautifully and twinkling at the audience as they lap up her every word.

She moves seamlessly between the various characters and doesn’t let up the pace once. She even manages to cook chips and egg live without any accidents.

So if you head along to the Wyvern this week, you’ll find a smile on your face and a lump in your throat. Isn’t that right, Wall? — GILL HARRIS

On at Wyvern Theatre Swindon until Saturday