REVIEW: Talking Heads
By Gary Murray
Talking Heads was the name of a series of powerful plays written by Alan Bennett which were broadcast on the BBC in 1988.
Each was a monologue from the point of view of a different character. The formidable cast included Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, Thora Hird and Alan Bennett.
They were remade in 2020 with some new additions and, again, with some of our best performers: the likes of Jodie Comer, Martin Freeman, Sarah Lancashire and Lesley Manville.
Any stage revival therefore has big shoes to fill.
Here, at the Grove Theatre in Eastbourne, we have three of the plays from the original series: A Chip In The Sugar, originally performed by the writer, A Bed Among The Lentils, and Her Big Chance.
For an actor, a one-person play is one of the most difficult to pull off well – there really is nowhere to hide!
Opening proceedings at the Grove was Bed Among The Lentils. Susan, a provincial vicar’s wife (played by Claire Holt), finds herself almost crushed by her social position and its expectations, seeking solace first in alcohol, then with a young grocer in Leeds.
Following immediately in the first half was A Chip In The Sugar, the story of Graham (played by Camber Sands) whose safe, closed world living with his mum is threatened by an old flame appearing on the scene.
"It’s poignant, funny and entertaining"
After the interval, we see Her Big Chance. Lesley (Holly Mason) is an actress who has just appeared in a West German film of dubious quality.
Alan Bennett’s writing simply cannot be beaten for an acute poignancy which is also extremely funny but bittersweet.
The cast do a good job here by and large. But I thought that Camber Sands’ Graham was a little too close to the original TV performance by Alan Bennett himself. I’d also like to have seen a slightly harder edge to Claire Holt’s portrayal of Susan.
But all in all the Grove, whose own production this is, have given us another good night at the theatre.
Even if you haven’t seen previous TV and stage productions, this stands on its own merits. It’s poignant, funny and entertaining.
:: Talking Heads is at the Grove Theatre until this Saturday, 23 August. Tickets here.
:: The reviewer, who is a volunteer with the Eastbourne Reporter, paid for their own ticket.
