Talking Heads - A Chip in the Sugar/Soldiering On/Bed Among the Lentils

Work:: Talking Heads (S5191)

A series of monologues, funny and poignant, normally from two to four of these would be performed at a time. A Cream Cracker Under The Settee tells of an old woman who has a fall, but her pride doesn't allow her to accept help. Bed Among the Lentils tells of a woman with a drink problem, married to a vicar who exploits her recovery actually caused by an affair with an Indian shopkeeper. A Lady of Letters is the story of a woman obsessed with writing letters of complaint and reporting her neighbours who eventually finds comfort in prison. Soldiering On is the tale of a well-to-do woman who finds one day that she's a widow and her husband has left her ill equipped to handle her own affairs - and her son loses her money in bad investments.

Author

Alan Bennett

Listing:: L295719803

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Current production:Work

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A Chip in the Sugar/Soldiering On/Bed Among the Lentils

A Chip in the Sugar - Graham finds life difficult enough at the best of times; when Mother meets an old flame and seems set to marry him Graham's old insecurities (Will he be parted from her? Is there someone watching the house?) rear their ugly heads again. Fate, eventually, rescues Graham and he resumes his normal life of banal muddle under his Mother's amnesiac tyranny. Soldiering On - the newly bereaved yet stoical Muriel confronts the future. Forced to face the facts about her husband, her son and her reduced circumstances, she remains undaunted. Bed Among the Lentils - Susan is a failure when it comes to jam-making and flower-arranging and isn't at all sure about God. unfortunately for her she is married to Geoffrey, a popular and respected vicar who treats her in an intensely patronising manner and expects her to conform to her role as vicar's wife at all times. Susan finds temporary solace through alcohol and an affair with a young Indian shopkeeper.