A HARROWING AND UNFORGETTABLE FINALE FOR MONOLOGUES
SHINING light on abusive dynamics between men and women has always been a signature strength of Alan Bennett. It’s proof, if proof were needed, that his Talking Heads monologues – many written three decades ago – are still stories of our times. And there’s no greater example than the harrowing Nights In The Garden Of Spain, which, along with Miss Fozzard, concludes the terrific Bridge’s Bennett season.
Tamsin Greig stars as a timid, cardigan-clutching housewife whose neighbour Fran has just shot dead her naked husband in the living room (though Fran took care to pop on his Y-fronts before showing him to her neighbour). As always with Bennett, the juxtaposition of black comedy with suburban ugliness becomes ever more uneasy as the terror Fran endured at the hands of her husband becomes apparent, and Greig – in a pitch-perfect depiction of a woman cowed by fear and self-loathing – realises its implications for herself and her own marriage. Unforgettable.
As the sexually aware Miss Fozzard, Maxine Peake brings perhaps a welcome blast of levity.
A frustrated sister stuck looking after an invalided brother, she knowingly embarks on a compromising relationship with her chiropodist. It’s more longwinded than Garden Of Spain and its delights lie chiefly in watching a put-upon middle-aged woman tentatively stake out a personal freedom. Yet Peake – lips painted scarlet, feet slithering in and out of shoes placed suggestively around the stage – relishes every coquettish mannerism perhaps a wee bit too much. In light of what comes before, her performance feels a bit overcooked.
But this is a quibble. What a joy these monologues have been.