TALKING HEADS
by Alan Bennett
Directed by Sue Hickson
Alan Bennett's well-loved monologues present a considerable problem for any actor: the challenge is to hold the audience's attention throughout a 25-35 minute piece, with the minimum help from props, lighting, costume, effects, or any other theatrical trappings.
The help that they get from the beautifully-crafted script is also, potentially, a huge pitfall: if you don't get the cadences, the rhythms, the weighting and pace of the dialogue exactly right, the whole thing falls apart.
Sue Hickson's choice of actor for role was flawless, each of the four actors rising to the challenge, and finding the necessary inner reserves of strength and character required to do justice to these masterworks.
On the surface, Bennett appears easy - it is (for those of us in Yorkshire, anyway) the stuff of everyday conversation - overheard fragments on the bus or in the pub. But the words are so carefully stitched together that you find yourself being taken, almost by stealth, to question your own previously- held concepts and beliefs.
A deceptively simple, though atmospheric, set was dressed with a few back-projected images on a screen at the rear of the stage that helped provide context without ever distracting. The characters moved little on stage, occasionally changing position to reflect a passage of time. We were focussed on face and voice.
The result was four stunning performances. Whether appreciating the sly, cunning wit of the writing, the warmth of characterization, the ability to understand and identify with unsympathetic characters, or the audacity with which Bennett makes us question our own views on difficult issues and taboo subjects, audiences were transfixed night after night.
I saw many rehearsals and all six performances, and never tired of watching. Top class, top quality theatre by any standard.
Nevin Ward
Wahneta Thorne Ruth Dodsworth Christine Ward Peter Buller
by Alan Bennett
Directed by Sue Hickson
Alan Bennett's well-loved monologues present a considerable problem for any actor: the challenge is to hold the audience's attention throughout a 25-35 minute piece, with the minimum help from props, lighting, costume, effects, or any other theatrical trappings.
The help that they get from the beautifully-crafted script is also, potentially, a huge pitfall: if you don't get the cadences, the rhythms, the weighting and pace of the dialogue exactly right, the whole thing falls apart.
Sue Hickson's choice of actor for role was flawless, each of the four actors rising to the challenge, and finding the necessary inner reserves of strength and character required to do justice to these masterworks.
On the surface, Bennett appears easy - it is (for those of us in Yorkshire, anyway) the stuff of everyday conversation - overheard fragments on the bus or in the pub. But the words are so carefully stitched together that you find yourself being taken, almost by stealth, to question your own previously- held concepts and beliefs.
A deceptively simple, though atmospheric, set was dressed with a few back-projected images on a screen at the rear of the stage that helped provide context without ever distracting. The characters moved little on stage, occasionally changing position to reflect a passage of time. We were focussed on face and voice.
The result was four stunning performances. Whether appreciating the sly, cunning wit of the writing, the warmth of characterization, the ability to understand and identify with unsympathetic characters, or the audacity with which Bennett makes us question our own views on difficult issues and taboo subjects, audiences were transfixed night after night.
I saw many rehearsals and all six performances, and never tired of watching. Top class, top quality theatre by any standard.
Nevin Ward
Wahneta Thorne Ruth Dodsworth Christine Ward Peter Buller