Talking Heads

Alan Bennett

Main CharactersGraham Whittaker (A Chip in the Sugar): A middle-aged, repressed man living with his mother, whose fragile world is threatened when she reunites with an old flame. Susan (Bed Among the Lentils): A cynical, neglected vicar’s wife who seeks solace in alcohol and an affair with a local grocer to escape her stifling life. Irene Ruddock (A Lady of Letters): A lonely woman who expresses her frustrations through a constant stream of complaining letters to authorities, eventually leading to her own imprisonment.

First Performance: 1992, at Comedy Theatre (West End transfer), London

A modern classic; the TV series became a cultural phenomenon, leading to multiple successful stage transfers and revivals.