Elsewhere
Elsewhere
✭✭✭✭✩
by Alan Bennett, directed by Nicholas Hytner
Robert Fox Productions, Queens Theatre
December 7, 1999-July 15, 2000
The first first play of my winter theatre trip was THE LADY IN THE VAN at the Queens Theatre. Maggie Smith as the title character was absolutely wonderful. We had not seen her on stage since her years at the Stratford Festival in Canada and were delighted to see that her delivery and timing are as perfect as ever. Nicholas Farrell and Kevin McNally, playing the two Alan Bennetts, were also excellent and the play as a whole was much more substantial that we had expected.
The play is based on a short by Bennett in turn based on a real-life incident. It recounts his interactions with a female tramp named Mrs. Shepherd, who “temporarily” parked her camper van on Bennett’s front lawn in north London for 15 years. I had worried that in being based on real events that the play might be too anecdotal.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in the London Theatre Guide 2000-02-25.
Photo: (top) Maggie Smith; (bottom) Nicholas Farrell and Kevin McNally. ©2000 Steffan Hill.
2000-02-25
London, GBR: The Lady in the Van