TALKING HEADS till 27 August

Edinburgh 2007 Fringe.

ALAN BENNETT’S TALKING HEADS. A CHIP IN THE SUGAR and A LADY OF LETTERS.
by Alan Bennett.

Assembly Universal Arts Freemasons Hall, 96 George St.
To 27 August 2007.
Every day a different selection from the five, the other three are: A Cream Cracker Under The Sofa, Bed Among The Lentils and Her Big Chance. 16:30
Runs 1hr 30mins. No interval.

TICKETS. 0131 623 3030 or Fringe BO 226 0000..
www.glasgay.com
Review Thelma Good 19 August 2007.

As sad, brave and understanding as the Leeds-tinged originals.
Originally produced as part of Glasgow’s 2006 Glasgay Festival, these versions of Alan Bennett’s well loved and crafted monologues shift their setting and accents geographically. It’s a refreshing and enhancing experience, emphasising that these are sharply observations of how people talk, giving away more of themselves and what is happening to them than they realise.

Bennett’s characters are all ones we might overlook, avoid or find irritating but he leads us to see into the character’s inner self. Ross Stenhouse is Graham the man who has come back to stay with his mother. They’ve learnt to prop one another until one day a man from her past starts taking an interest. Graham’s at first confused, but then he finds he has to grow up at last.

In the second half the scenery is adjusted so there’s a large table and the window is now half netted. That’s where Irene keeps a neighbourly eye on things and writes letters. She’s always writing in fact, a woman who makes clear assumptions. They sound plausible from her lips but she’s always thinking the worst of others. Annie Riatt captures Irene’s strength of purpose, there’s a little of Irene in many women.

These are lonely people in the modern world, and even though the monologues were written in the eighties for TV there’s no dating visible. Though you’re not getting Patricia Routledge or Alan Bennett, the original Graham and Irene, these versions catch the mood, giving them an interesting Scottish flavour as sad, brave and understanding as the Leeds-tinged originals.

Companies: Glasgay and Tron Theatre both based in Glasgow ( Scotland).
A LADY OF LETTERS – Annie Raitt
A CHIP IN THE SUGAR – Ross Stenhouse.
A CREAM CRACKER UNDER THE SOFA – Kay Gallie.
BED AMONG THE LENTILS – Jill Riddiford.
HER BIG CHANCE – Morag Stark.

Director : Grant Smeaton.
Designer : Veronica Rennie .

2007-08-22 08:16:18