Writing Wrinkles, and Random Ramblings – Smoothing the wrinkles in this wrinkly's writing
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Whittlesey Wordsmiths
Description: A blog from the low country
Posted by fenlandphil in Alan Bennett , Comedy , Play , Stamford Shakespeare Company , The Lady in The Van , Tolethorpe Hall . Tagged: Alan Bennett , Miss Shepherd , Play , The Lady in The Van , Tolethorpe Hall . 6 Comments
Our first encounter, my wife and I’s that is, with Tolethorpe Hall and the Stamford Shakespeare Company was in 2019, when my brother in law invited us to join his family outing to watch Blithe Spirit, my son had given me a ticket as a birthday present. It was an absolutely brilliant performance, with Angela Harris excelling in the role of Madam Arcarti. Since then we have made a point of making a yearly visit except when Covid intervened.
The Lady in the Van, is based on true events, Miss Shepherd drove her van into Alan Bennett’s life during 1974 remaining there within his garden for the next 15 years. Alan Bennett’s relationship with his guest, for want of a better word and Alan would no doubt have found one, was an uneasy one. He described Miss Shepherd as a “bigoted, blinkered, cantankerous, devious, unforgiving, self-centred, rank, rude, car mad cow.” The play extracts the humour from the situation, together with a profound sadness as B
Writing Wrinkles, and Random Ramblings – Smoothing the wrinkles in this wrinkly's writing
#Home - Stephen Oliver's Author Site
Whittlesey Wordsmiths