“Behind every smile there lies a story that will break your heart”. This is something I read on a printed postcard years ago, and it’s a phrase that came back to me as I watched West Yorkshire Playhouse’s presentation of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads. I guess because these stories describe what goes on behind the façade of being ‘normal’. The characters and their lives are very funny, but also ever so slightly tragic.
The three chosen monologues presented were A Chip in the Sugar, Bed Among the Lentils and A Lady of Letters. I enjoyed all three. They were so beautifully written. They were also superbly acted, with great direction. My favourite story was Bed Among the Lentils because Susan, who is played by Cate Hamer, is just a wonderful character. She has an irreverence about religion, suggesting (for instance) a substitution of cough mixture for the holy wine. I was absolutely there with her in the upstairs of the grocers shop. It felt so real. Now this character was played by Maggie Smith when Talking Heads was televised, and she is undeniably hard act to follow. So thumbs up to Cate Hamer who did a brilliant job.
In fact, thumbs up to the whole production. It was the opposite of pretentious with some brilliant touches. The first story opens with Graham (played by Christopher Chilton) folding his mum’s large floral knickers, whilst dressed in sandals with socks. In the second story, we see Susan polishing the church candlestick with ‘Brasso’ which just takes me back in time. Do you remember that stuff? There was a forgotten familiarity in the characters and stories. Cheeseburgers alluded to as an exciting new thing, references to lemon wedges, and plastic tomato shaped bottles. All this made me smile and reminded me that the world described in these stories is pre-internet, pre-mobile, pre-social media. It’s a world where being likened to ‘the Queen Mother’ or the ‘Virgin Mary’ is a compliment and letter writing is the ‘norm’. It is not a world where people spend their time reading other people’s facebook and twitter statuses and ‘Whats App-ing’ one another.
What I especially loved reading about Talking Heads was how it has toured for two weeks in community venues across Leeds. What’s even better is that it’s toured to three people’s front rooms. How brilliant is that? Having seen it, I can see why people loved it in those venues. All three characters are oh so endearing and easy to relate to, despite (or perhaps because of) the rather strange things they get up to. It also occurred to me that the reminiscence and memory references within this production might make it a perfect set of stories to share with people living with dementia. With West Yorkshire Playhouse’s strides in becoming a Dementia Friendly building, that could be something to seriously consider.
If you get a chance to see this, then go because you are in for a real treat! For booking or more information, click here.
Zoe Parker is a movement director and coach, who blogs about arts, health and culture. She is currently directing Splash, an interactive pop up show with Yorkshire Life Aquatic.