Talking Heads
B OX S E T
One of the upsides of lockdown and socialdistancing measures has been the revival of Alan Bennett’s wonderful monologues.
Originally broadcast on the BBC in 1988, ten of them have been refreshed with new actors taking on the roles and Bennett has written two new pieces – An Ordinary Woman, performed by Sarah Lancashire and The Shrine, performed by
Monica Dolan. How Bennett has acquired the reputation of being cute, cuddly and comforting is hard to fathom. All these pieces deal with difficult issues – including mental breakdown, alcoholism, domestic violence, loneliness – and many of them expose the dark, sometimes disturbing, underbelly of apparently ordinary suburban lives. Yes, there is the trademark dry humour, but none of them could be described as light and frothy.
An Ordinary Woman is a case in point – it is certainly not easy viewing. Lancashire’s depiction of a troubled middle-aged mother struggling to understand her own transgressive feelings towards her teenage son is both powerful and heart-breaking.
As always with Bennett, he allows space for the actor to communicate as much, and with equal potency, through what is left unsaid. All the actors involved – who include Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Martin Freeman and Harriet Walter – are at the top of their game, presenting authentic portrayals and clearly relishing the opportunity to interpret Bennett’s very fine writing.