Scot Squad star Sally Reid loves being your Shirley Valentine in new play

Scot Squad star Sally Reid has become so immersed in preparing to play the iconic role of Shirley Valentine that she has been enjoying cosy meals with the Liverpudlian holidaymaker.

“Before rehearsals started I took myself for lunch dates, just me and Shirley, to try to experience what she was doing,” Reid smiled. “My friends have started laughing at me when they ask me my plans and I say Shirley and I are popping out to Little Italy on Byres Road. I think some of them felt they might need to speak with me, but I do feel she’s my little buddy at the moment and I’m taking her everywhere.”

The Perthshire actor is performing Willy Russell’s celebrated play, which was made famous by Pauline Collins’ portrayal of the stuck-in-a-rut suburbanite who finds a new lease of life after a solo holiday to Greece. Adapted into a film in 1989, it earned Collins Bafta and Oscar nominations.

“It’s a gift of a part and you have to throw yourself into it,” Reid explained. “These roles don’t come around too often. She’s an everywoman – she speaks to everyone and everyone can relate to her or an element of her life.”

Like Shirley, Reid has enjoyed a solo holiday but it was another overseas trip that proved transformative.

“A few years ago I went on holiday on my own between jobs and it was great, but when I was telling people I was getting ‘good for you’ comments. I fell into the trap of saying, ‘Should I do this?’ but I did and had a great time. I didn’t think twice about sitting in a restaurant on my own. There’s a part of the play where Shirley does that and everyone is looking at her, but she’s perfectly happy. I went to Berlin and then Poland, so it wasn’t a beach holiday like Shirley’s.

“A life-changing trip was when I went to Chicago to train with the Steppenwolf Ensemble. I had no idea what I was in for, but it was the most incredible time creatively and I met a family of friends who I’m still close to now. I fell in love with the city and tried to continue to go back and forth. I applied for a green card but it fell through and it was heartbreaking. That was in 2005 and I still hold the experience really close to me.”

Reid, who plays PC Sarah Fletcher in Scot Squad, will begin filming a new series of the BBC police mockumentary soon, and also had a role in the second episode of new ITV drama, Karen Pirie. But she’s been even busier in the director’s chair recently. Smile, a play about Scottish football legend Jim McLean, was well received and she followed that with The Bookies and also directed the Hogmanay special of Scot Squad last year.

“Smile resonated with so many people in Dundee because Jim was their hero. We’re bringing it back in February. The Bookies was something completely different and I had to see if Smile wasn’t just a fluke. It was challenging but great,” added Reid.

“I’d done director training on River City and shadowed other directors, and when The Comedy Unit asked me to direct the Scot Squad Hogmanay episode everyone was so supportive. I was shattered at the end of the first day.”

Shirley Valentine is a joint production between Pitlochry Festival Theatre, An Tobar and Mull Theatre, so once it finishes in Pitlochry, Reid will take the show to Mull and Iona.

“I visited both with my mum and niece years ago and Iona was tropical. I’m into wild swimming at the moment. I first did it with a friend in December, which was the wrong way round but actually the right way round, because I went in when it was coldest and it got progressively warmer as the year went on, whereas most people start when it’s warmer and build up to the cold.

“I get such a buzz from it and it sets me up for the rest of the week, so I’ll need to find some spots, just me and Shirley.”

Shirley Valentine, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Thursday until October 29; Mull Theatre, Dervaig Village Hall, Bunessan Village Hall, Iona Village Hall, November 1-4