Alan Bennett -Talking Heads Monologues

Good thinking, I could've easily taken over that thread too, hehe.

A Chip In the Sugar is one of Mr. Bennett's turns in front of camera and it is wonderful . An older closeted gay male who lives with his aged mother "Graham" has to come to grips with not just his sexuality but a history of mental issues. All this while caring for his elderly mother whom he thought didn't know his secret.

I'm watching The Outside Dog at the moment. I couldn't find the entirety of the one with Julie Walters, so I'm watching the newer one with Rochenda Sandall. I've only seen a couple of the second series ones, but all of the first series and "A Woman of No Importance".

Yeah, didn't want to get the "oh dear" people angry. Besides it's far better this way as Alan Bennett and his work deserves own thread.

For those unfamiliar here is entire list of episodes...

STOP MAKING SENSE

Monologues are probably some of the most difficult acting both live and in front of camera. It's just you, a bit of scenery or background (if you're lucky) and that's all. You've got nothing to grip and hold an audience with but your performance.

Mr. Bennett was able to call upon a number of fine British actors at top of their game. They just don't read lines but inhabit their characters, you feel their joy, pain and sorrow.

Hand Of God, stars Eileen Atkins as an oh so sure of herself antiques dealer. She's an expert do don't come in her shop with your fancy ways or trying to get over on *her*. Well you know what they say; pride doth come before a fall......

'Talking Heads' (along with 'An Englishman Abroad') are for me Bennett's finest works. The new interpretations last year underlined their now-classic status. They were a real lockdown highlight.

I thought Martin Freeman if anything improved on Bennett's authorial turn in 'Chip'! At any rate, there's so much rich talent to compare and contrast. New viewers have a wealth to enjoy and admire.

Parts I and II of "The Outside Dog" are on YT. Entire play is on DailyMotions IIRC....

We all people like what are in Talking Heads monologues. You sometimes can't wait to get away from them, other times you just either cope or feel sorry for them so do your best.

Hand of God is excellent because you don't see it coming, but are sort of pleased when that shop owner gets what's coming to her. Wipes that smirk off her face. Then after a bit you begin to feel sorry for the woman, it's all over, she'll never be able to look down her nose at others ever again.

‘An Ordinary Woman’ ends on a really interesting open-ended note, doesn’t it? What is Bennett trying to say about women, with a comment like that?

I find the piano cue in that one a bit mawkish and overbearing as well as distracting, though. Silence allows for contemplation of all we’ve just heard.

I love Patricia Routledge’s acting in these!

Another one

"He said: 'you better get your hat and coat.'" - I always start to tear up at that point.

But what a joyful and moving final act, R13. Irene, warped by her small and narrow life, completely liberated and redeemed by the community and sense of meaningful purpose she finds.

The one that really depresses me is Stephanie Cole’s Soldiering On, which feels like A Lady of Letters’ horrifying companion piece - the staunch bomb-proof chatelaine reduced to a penurious old-age as an isolated near imbecile after a lifetime of monstrous blind-eye-turning in service of upper middle class busyness.

His plays are overrated horse shit.

Agreed, R14, I tear up again at the end of A Lady of Letters, but in a lovely way. "And I'm sitting there... and I'm so... happy."

OP, this the THIRD thread on these monologists.

Of the remakes Kristin Scott Thomas was the best. I liked the Eileen Atkins performance but KST added an extra dimension of awfulness to the character.

Jodie Comer didn't feel right for Her Big Chance and I can't watch Maxine Peake in anything, although she'd make a lovely Eva Braun.

The Sarah Lancashire play with the mother fantasising about her son just felt unbelievable but Monica Dolan as the dead biker's widow made up for it.

But no one can beat Patricia Routledge and her concern for The Kiddie.

That last thread was obviously commenced by a secret BBC show-runner to advertise the remakes.

But why this third thread now? Is this thread talking about the original six or the six remakes?

Does anyone have an answer to my two questions?

R17

My search only turned up the one, where are the others?

Besides there are three and counting threads on Alan Ritchson, two about that murder/suicide in PA over shoveling snow, and countless other multiple threads on same subject. So why pick on me?

If people on DL would learn to title threads correctly including subject then maybe a search would reveal, thus likely less duplicates. But then again considering the internet skills of most around here I doubt it.

I'll just add to you R20 that there's something like 134 concurrent threads on Armie Hammer. There's always some wannabe hall monitor going around and telling people off for their thread. Kinda sad when you think about it.

I for one am very happy you started this thread, thank you.

Thank you R21

These anally retentive hall monitors on DL get up my nose. If this site remotely was anywhere near 21st century standards in terms of allowing editing, deletion and other actions on posts/threads started then *might* cut them some slack. But as things stand this place isn't much better than Gay.com; once you start a thread it's up and that is that.

Never mind many threads are started with titles that don't remotely resemble topic so even the rudimentary DL search function doesn't work.

Only recent discussion know of about Alan Bennett's monologues was in the Penelope Keith thread. That IMHO does not count as a separate thread or discussion.

I agree with, R21, OP. Perhaps I’m an “I take the Daily Mail” Peggy Schofield-type at heart, but I wade through the unrelenting onslaught of amateur porn, Armie Hammer and trans menace content on DL for exactly this sort of thread. Thanks for posting!

The wonderful Julie Walters in Her Big Chance...

Is this thread one person talking to themselves?

[quote]Only recent discussion know of about Alan Bennett's monologues was in the Penelope Keith thread. That IMHO does not count as a separate thread or discussion.

Plus, the OP very kindly moved the discussion to this new thread so we didn't derail the Penelope Keith one. He did everything right as far as I'm concerned.

I watched The Outside Dog last night, the newer version. I'd like to see the whole thing with Julie to see how she does it. Often these are left up to interpreting, but did it seem to anyone else that she put the pants back in the kennel because she's planning to have the evidence found to get her husband locked up? She was so terrified too, and I wasn't sure if she just hid them and was going to just put up with this new horrible life, or if she had had enough and decided to stop protecting the life she had and turn on him. Having OCD about cleaning but leaving the dirty trousers in the kennel implies to me that she was breaking a pattern. But I'm not sure. I'll be curious to see how Julie plays it.

[quote]I watched The Outside Dog last night, the newer version. I'd like to see the whole thing with Julie to see how she does it. Often these are left up to interpreting, but did it seem to anyone else that she put the pants back in the kennel because she's planning to have the evidence found to get her husband locked up? She was so terrified too, and I wasn't sure if she just hid them and was going to just put up with this new horrible life, or if she had had enough and decided to stop protecting the life she had and turn on him. Having OCD about cleaning but leaving the dirty trousers in the kennel implies to me that she was breaking a pattern. But I'm not sure. I'll be curious to see how Julie plays it.

There was a historic legal principle called Double Jeopardy where a person cannot be tried for a crime for a second time if the first trial ended with an acquittal. So in this case, the husband was put on trial for the murders of the women, acquitted and then Marjorie found the tan slacks, so he wouldn't have been able to be prosecuted again for it even if she gave them to the police. The law in the UK was changed in the early 2000s. I watched the Julie Walters version as a teenager and didn't understand originally that when the husband "had a go" it meant he was raping her. He was raping her while the dog watched.

When The Outside Dog originally aired there was a lot of discussion about comparisons with Sonia Sutciffe, wife of the (now dead from Covid ha fucking ha) Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.

[quote]I watched the Julie Walters version as a teenager and didn't understand originally that when the husband "had a go" it meant he was raping her. He was raping her while the dog watched.

It struck me in the moment she was recounting that too that it sounded like potentially that was exactly how it was happening with his victims too.

Whoa, ok so I just watched An Ordinary Woman. That was... an experience. Made me feel nauseous, and at one point I considered stopping it. But it was wonderfully acted.

Just followed it up with The Shrine too. It was really nice seeing Monica Dolan do a monologue, every time I see her in something she's so good. I remember her as Miss Gilchrist in After the Funeral.

Haven't worked up nerve yet to watch An Ordinary Woman. Just not ready for Mr. Bennett to take me to that dark place just yet....

R25

Only to a blind daft cow. Now go away and let us get on....