Talking Heads
Alan Bennett
Originally written for television but frequently performed as a theatrical cycle, these monologues offer intimate, often heartbreaking glimpses into the lives of seemingly ordinary people. From a lonely letter-writer to a vicar’s alcoholic wife, the characters reveal their deepest secrets and delusions directly to the audience. Bennett’s talking heads are masterclasses in subtext, where what is left unsaid is as important as what is spoken. The collection is celebrated for its perfect pitch, its dark humor, and its profound empathy for the quiet tragedies of English domestic life.
Graham 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.
Original Actors: Alan Bennett, Maggie Smith, Patricia Routledge, Thora Hird