Talking Heads is a series of stunning, dramatic monologues written for the BBC by the British national treasure, Alan Bennett. The monologues were broadcast in 1988, and then a second series ten years later. In 2020, in response to the lockdown to prevent the spread of the Covid virus, Bennett wrote two more.
The fourteen monologues deal with a variety of subjects, and are comedic, beautifully observed portraits of their northern subjects. Each story has a twist in the tail.
The Players are presenting three of the monologues:
“A Chip in the Sugar”
Middle-aged Graham is still happily living at home with Mam. But things change when she has a chance encounter with an old-flame…
“Bed Among the Lentils”
Susan is the unhappy wife of a small town vicar, ground down by the mundanities of her life and the expectations placed on her. She takes refuge in alcohol and so begins her spiral of descent – and ultimately her recovery and acceptance…
“A Lady of Letters”
Irene is a middle-aged single lady who is not afraid to speak, or rather write, her mind: she writes letters to her MP, the police, the chemist – everyone she can, to remedy the social ills she sees around her. But, one day, Irene goes too far…